Pom-Pom Pom!
by Yuilhan
Summary: When you lose everything and your options are limited, turning to Piracy is no joke. It becomes your way of life, Hari was soon to learn; and thus the Pom-Pom Pirates took to the seas.
1. Episode 1

**DISCLAIMER** : All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.

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 **HUGE** **thanks to** _Your own random stalker_ **for Beta-ing this first Arc!  
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 **Why not check my Tumblr blog for more behind the scenes posts, artwork, and sneak-peaks about this new story, and even some of my other works on Fan Fiction and A03? You'll find me as yuilhan-from-ff on that particular site!**

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 **"Pom-Pom Pom!"**

 **Arc One: '** Darkest before the dawn!'

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 _Episode 1. Logue Town! Our hero's journey begins!_

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Not far from the main shopping streets of Logue Town resides a small boutique. It's sparsely known, and crumbling from years of neglect, but the sign hanging on the glass insert of the door is proudly still switched from 'Closed' to 'Open' every morning at the stroke of eight o'clock.

It has been this way for thirty-five years, but it won't remain so for much longer.

Inside the store, sat on a stool behind the counter and working away at a torn cuff on a pinstriped shirt, we find out heroine: Nineteen-year-old Hari, sole inheritor of the remnants of her father's little business.

The place has seen better days, of course. The once magenta paint colouring the door and wide window frames now mimics the soft flushed skin of a new-born baby; peeling and cracking in places, which discourages any thoughts of the business flourishing in recent years. The windows, despite what they are set in, sparkle. Through them, an array of handcrafted garments, haberdashery and fabrics can be viewed. An equally weather-worn swing sign, hanging higher than the rosy-pink door, states that commissions and tailoring can also be arranged inside.

'Argyle's' had seen better days, but for now it was staying open. Hari kept the shop afloat by taking time consuming- but well paid- commissions, and fixing odd-bod garments for locals who respected the business and her father, or for tourists who were willing to pay a small fee for repairs to their clothes, rather than buying a whole new expensive wardrobe. She regretted not being able to keep the Marine contract her father had secured years ago, back when business was booming and they still had many workers stationed in the workshop at the back of the shop. Tailoring and embroidering uniforms for the local fleets, and sometimes further afield had been a well-paid job. But Hari was only one person, and having to let the workers go when her father- Argyle himself, passed, and the shop struggled to cope, meant making sacrifices. Even if it meant axing one great source of income.

She managed for two years to struggle on and do what she could; going so far as to sell the flat above the shop that had been her home since birth, and the more luxurious items within it. Now Hari lived in the workshop, a cold wooden bench serving as her bed. She figured that it couldn't hurt to live there; after all, there would be no workers- and she still owned the shop. Legally it was hers to do as she pleased, so long as she kept up with paying the lease and had enough left to provide for herself. She used the small employee bathroom for her necessities, but frequented a communal bath house when cotton bits and the dust in the storerooms began to itch her skin, or a particularly warm day left her body feeling sticky.

After the third anniversary of her father's death, and her third year of keeping Argyle's legacy alive, a Doskoi Panda chain store opened in the empty unit across the street. Hari had watched intensely from where she was changing the Autumn/Winter display to the Spring/Summer one as they flittered back and to with boxes of branded goods. Their windows were freshly polished, the frames and the door painted a deep and luscious maroon. On their opening day, despite being tucked away slightly from the main shopping sector, the store had more visitors than Hari would acquire in two months.

She remained cheerful, and kept the door propped open in hope of patrons over the next few weeks. None came. Her goods were unwanted; the branded clothing more appealing to the citizens of Logue Town.

When sweeping outside of the boutique after another rough day of no customers, the manager of the new Doskoi Panda store stepped outside. Leaning against the doorframe and smirking as she dejectedly swept the cobbles and under the little rubber welcome mat, the man she would learn to hate tauntingly said; _"Oh dear."_

Hari halted in her work. "Did you say something?" she asked, cupping a hand over her eyes. The low light shone on her face, and she squinted to make out the smirking man's features. He was very overweight, she noted, with tight trousers that didn't mesh at all well with his body shape. They rode low on his chubby hips and strained even with the chunky gold belt cinched round his stomach. A dark purple shirt that struggled to fit his torso was nearly popping at the seams and fastenings. But it was the greasy hair and smile that turned Hari's stomach. This was a weasel of a man; one who would stoop to any length to get what he wanted. In this case, it was money- why else would he be working with a well-established brand with chain stores all over the Blues and even Grand Line? Money made the world go round, Hari had eventually acknowledged, not well respected individuals of the community like her father. Money and the World Government were indeed the two ruling factors.

"Heh," Pat- because that was the greasy man's name, and Hari had come to revile it- scoffed, "Only that it's a damn shame to see such a good premises going to waste." He wiped his sausage fingers down the buttons of his purple shirt; golden signet rings adorning each of the fingers glinting in the low light.

"What do you mean by that?" Hari asked dumbly, now gripping the broom with both hands and a knuckle crunching ferocity. The man took any opportunity to try and belittle her family's business; tonight would be no exception.

"Exactly what I said. We wanted your shop originally, but it's no matter, I suppose. We're doing well enough in this one, and…" Pat chortled, looking down his bulbous nose at the young girl, "With the rate you're going at, we won't be outcompeted. If you're lucky, Heart Kreuz might buy you out."

Pat turned on his Cuban heeled boot. but stopped and tutted. "Oh!" He looked over his shoulder, "I forgot to mention the part where they'd have to be desperate to buy that shit tip of yours."

He strutted away, as best as he could without wobbling or tipping under his own weight, that is; locking the Doskoi Panda store up behind him and drawing down the velvet blinds for the night. Before the final blind hit the inside window ledge, he leered and waved his meaty hand at Hari; and it was the greasiest 'Goodnight' she had ever received.

Hari had unintentionally snapped her broom in two during the encounter; "Oh fu-" she spotted a neighbour's child running past with his friends, _"-felt tip pens!"_

She smiled uneasily as the boy slowed to a stop and stared. He wiped his snotty nose on his t-shirt sleeve and nodded sagely with the innate wisdom that all eight-year-old's possess: "Lady, you're weird."

Hari's smile tightened. The boy made himself scarce.

* * *

After an uneasy night's sleep in the workshop; which Hari spent waking from a scant few hours' of rest to begin working on a new commission- which she had finished before her alarm went off. She then began to set up the shop for yet another fruitless day.

The shelves were lightly dusted, any wrinkles in the goods displayed in the window were smoothed. The untouched haberdashery, which in by gone days would be in disarray and would take hours to reset, was left alone. Not many people came in looking for the right patterned ribbon or piece of lace; nor did they bother to purchase reels of cotton or embroidery threads. It was much easier to buy something premade that one thought was special, but in fact had predictably been worn by others already.

Hari picked up an oversized button that barely fit in her palm and sighed. Many of these crafting things had been in the shop for a few years- her stock hardly depleting from an influx of customers. In fact, she was the primary user; when she took commissions, she used what was handy in the shop and added the extra cost to the commissioner's bill.

She spent three hours behind the counter; the time divided by boxing up the commission and letting the one whom had ordered it that the garment was ready to collect. When the elderly lady came to pick up the small knitted hat, booties and mittens woven that very morning out of the softest wool Hari had to hand for the lady's unborn grandchild, Hari sighed and looked through the windows over to Doskoi Panda. Unsurprisingly, they were having yet another busy day.

Hari chose to close up the shop around mid-morning, a faint thrum of unease beginning to tug her tummy into knots. She decided that it wasn't going to give up- just for today, and only this day, would she give in. What was the point of staying open? She had no commissioned goods for people to collect, and the clothes premade drew no interest. She's be better off wandering round Logue Town and trying to pretend that everything was fine.

The shop was untouched, the blinds on the windows drawn down to prevent any theft- Hari would be so lucky to have that happen, the insurance she worked hard to pay for would reimburse her for the damage and more. With her appearance straightened in the employee bathroom mirror and the front door firmly locked, Hari surmised that a walk around Logue Town would help clear the strange feeling that had captured her.

Rarely for one does the universe comply; for Hari had could have unfortunately chosen this day to close early and wander. The day that the Strawhat Pirates rampaged around Logue Town. Not that she knew that, of course, otherwise she may have stayed indoors. Had our heroine decided to do the former, she would not have missed the local Bridezilla on the hunt for a wedding dress. The carnage the woman had left in several reputable stores was beyond comprehension; this would be her seventh marriage, and only a dress to outshine the other six would do, naturally. A scared bystander finally plucked up the courage and removed them self from behind the display of wedged-heeled sandals to suggest the bride-to-be try Argyle's Haberdashery for a commissioned wedding dress.

Upon finding the store closed, things royally kicked off. The bride turned her attention to Doskoi Panda, and ripped through the store like the storm beginning to brew off of the coast. Perhaps, Hari was indeed lucky to be spared from the same fate- even if it did lose her a healthy cash injection.

Had she also remained in the shop, Hari wouldn't have missed the man dressed in a smart suit and carrying a pristine leather briefcase. He had wished to speak to her urgently, but found Argyle's store empty, so left the way he came.

As it was, Hari was having a grand old time. She'd made her way down to the docks in the hopes of dipping her feet in the refreshing salt water. Instead, she was bowled over by a ground of people sprinting for the nearest ship- the blonde of the group apologised profusely before being thrown aboard by a red haired woman. Having dusted herself off and watching with confusion, Hari was sent flying again; this time by a member of the Marines.

She pressed her cheek into the cold stone of the docks, trying not to breathe deeply as the acrid smoke from the Marine's cigars clouded around her. Hari listened as the Marine- his reinforcements had dithered and cried 'Captain Smoker' upon arrival- barked out some orders. Something about tracking down 'Mugiwara' and some 'Dragon' guy? She wasn't too sure- both of her tumbles and kisses shared with the ground had left her a little disoriented.

Nobody bothered to scrape her up off of the floor, not even the justice-serving goody-goody Marines. It was down to pot luck they didn't trample her as they ran past.

Hari lay on her front for a few more minutes as the rain began to kick in, idly watching the docked vessels bob as the ocean currents were harried by the storm. Being so close to Reverse Mountain and the Grand Line had its drawbacks. Logue Town had its own volatile weather; scorching heat one minute and thunder storms the next.

She rolled on her back and let out a heavy sigh; "I knew it…"

Hari stood, not bothering to wipe the dust from her clothes. The rain had watered it down after all, and now distinct yellow patches had sunk into her white blouse. She adjusted the cross body bag by her hip, checking the contents. Her purse, the shop keys and the extensive sewing kit she always carried with her remained undamaged.

"Chivalry is long dead," she mumbled through gritted teeth. The rain poured harder and she began to shiver. "Oh for-" her cry drew the attention of a gap-toothed youth splashing through the gathering puddles, "-fox sake!"

Hari shook her head. Thoroughly disenchanted with the world and wishing she'd stayed and kept the shop open, she stepped into a nearby bar that served both hot and alcoholic drinks. She was hit suddenly by the warmth the door had kept trapped in there; the temperature dropping outside as the wind picked up. Taking a seat close to the bar, she hunched over the counter top- trying to hold all of new warmth in her body. When she could regain control of her cold body, she would gain the bar man's attention, but for the moment her chattering teeth and numb fingers claimed precedence.

"LET ME GO, YOU STUPID BASTARD!" Cried a smoky voice to Hari's left, and she idly angled her thawing body to the source of the noise.

A small girl- no older than fourteen, perched on one of the stool seats by the bar, was in the process of literally being dragged from the bar kicking and screaming.

"I can't serve alcohol t' kids!" Cried than man tugging on the girl's arm. The girl twisted this way and that, managing to get a solid bite on the man's exposed arm just by his wrist. He howled and instantly let go. The girl shuffled and got herself comfy on the seat; she smoothed out the puffy skirts of her sunflower yellow dress. Her golden hair lay in slightly tousled ringlet-pigtails, symmetrically aligned atop her head. Two 'cat-ear' cone shaped ribbons hid where the hair had been gathered and secured.

"And I keep sayin' that I'm not a kid!" The girl replied. Hari found it disconcerting for such a young teen to have a rich, gravelly voice. The tone simply didn't fit the innocent exterior; the frilly yellow sundress, pigtails and dewy, smooth skin. "I'm thirty-two, for Raftel's sake!"

Fully defrosted and beginning to dry slightly, Hari blanched. The preteen was actually not a preteen; she was in her thirties and _still_ looked as fresh as a daisy? Hari wondered how she'd manged that- on days where money was incredibly tight and bill paying came before comfort, Hari would look especially haggard and gaunt. How had this woman survived for so long, looking as she did?

"Unb'lievable," The owner of the bar growled, "Stop messin' about, kid."

"No- ' _believable'_. I'm no kid," the woman rumbled back, "Now can I get a drink or not?" Half a minute later, the owner slat a glass of cold milk in front of the woman, purposely sloshing it down the front of her dress. "I'm so not payin' for that now- I'm wearin' half of it!"

"Like ih' t'or lump it, Kiddo," the owner states, and the small woman bristles.

Hari clears her throat, "Could I get a hot drink please?"

"I don't want to 'like it or lump it'! If you'd got what I asked for, we wouldn't be in this mess now would we?" The woman spits, eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

"Yer' a nasty little shit, arn'cha?"

"…Never mind," Hari wilts, slipping off of her stool. It may as well just be easier to go back to the shop to get through the worst of the storm and warm up there. She could always chance going down to the communal baths later if she was still cold. It would also help ease the stiffened muscles and bruises she could feel forming; surely the consequences of being knocked off of her feet earlier.

Wisely, only a few people are walking the streets and are bundled up in protective gear. Hari wraps her arms around her waist and hunkers down against the force of the wind. Her thin white shirt is thoroughly soaked through and stuck to her rapidly cooling skin.

Unfortunately for our young heroine, the world and its inhabitants served a cruel penance. Argyle's Haberdashery, the small boutique and haberdashery stockist of Logue Town that had been in business for thirty-five years was no more.

Hari's home and all of its contents were on fire, burning away despite the heavy downfall. The thin glass panes in the window frames had shattered, the flames and smoke pouring from open features and licking up the front of the grey stone.

Hari was struck dumb; she rubbed at her eyes, hoping that the fire, the crowd of bystanders doing nothing to quench the flames- that everything that had happened today was just one very strange and elaborate dream. But it wasn't, and Pat was stood nearby looking awfully shifty.

Argyle had a mistrust of banks, and preferred to keep his Beli in a secure place within the shop; that is, in a box containing family pictures, letters, cards and knickknacks from happier, memorable times. Sentimental of him though it may have been, it proved to be useful- they could manage their own spending, and the shop's books. Hari's mathematical skills soared above her peers when she was still in school- having been roped into the family business more often than not when she was younger. The only downfall apparent to Argyle's bank opposition proved to be this; the business had literally gone up flames, and the memory box containing all of the precious items and savings was still inside.

With one final rub at her eyes with tightly clenched fists, Hari calmly removed the shop keys from her bag and unlocked the door. She stepped back as a large cloud of soot flew her way, but took a cautious step inside. As though she were asleep, she stepped inside and managed to pull her shirt up to cover her lower face and nose. She moved quickly; scooping up the box from where it sat in the workshop beneath some rolls of silk, then she evacuated as swiftly as she could.

No sooner had she done so- Hari would soon recall shamefully the next time she awakened, she collapsed.

* * *

When Hari's eyes next cracked open, she found herself still sprawled on the cobbles. The fire sweeping through Argyle's had been quenched, she noted with bleary eyes. However, nothing salvageable remained.

Thirty-five years of grit, blood and tears had been ravaged in only a few hours. Hari had nothing but the box beside her, which she clung to with fervour. She bit her lip; at least she had been able to save mementos of her family and her father's life savings. Without it, she really would have no option but to rough it out on the streets until the insurance company could pay out and repair the shop. Upon closer inspection, Hari wondered whether the shop was worth repairing at all. Logically she reasoned that even if she did manage to repair everything, it wouldn't be the same store that she grew up in- the store her father built and worked in each day until he died. It was the store that had kept them busy when Hari's mother passed away prematurely, and that had provided her with a trade she felt would keep her imagination forever flowing. It would surely never be the same when restored, despite her best efforts. Everything would be clean, and new, and clinical. Not the homey little shop that had seen better years and was slightly rough around the edges.

But her heart protested.

This was her livelihood, her trade. Her last and only link to her family, despite the box of memories she kept a good hold on.

"-ri?"

Hari blinked. Was someone calling her?

"Miss Hari?"

She stiffly turned her head. A man in a suit, standing apart from the bystanders (who surprisingly hadn't left yet, though the main source of drama had finished) was offering her a vaguely familiar business card and a unsure smile.

"Miss Hari, my name is-" Hari didn't catch his name, a sudden rush of blood through her ears blocked any noise. She recognised this card; it was that of her insurance company. The embossed swirling letters of the company's name had vainly attracted her at first when she sought cover after her father passed. They had proven to be useful allies, like when an old pipe had burst in the workshop and damaged most of the floors two years prior. It had been a particularly harsh winter than year, Hari recalled, and the pipe had exploded when ice formed inside a hairline crack and expanded.

Hari felt her hopes rise; he was here to tell her that the shop would be okay! That everything would be fine, and reparable, like the incident with the pipe.

"-but I'm afraid that your contract ended this morning. We've been trying to get in touch for a while; I even popped round this afternoon, but the store was closed. Of all the dreadful things to happen during this mess… such a shame. Because your cover ended this morning, we cannot help you financially during this time and for the restoration of the shop. However, when you're up and running again, we can always renew your cover, yes?"

The man began to panic when the first tears fell from her eyes. His flustered hands fluttered in an attempt to quell the waterworks; "Miss! Please don't cry- I'm sure you can get this sorted."

Hari rubbed her runny nose on her shirt sleeve, not caring about making a mess of the white fabric anymore. After all, it was no longer white, but a sooty grey.

"Everything I own," she whispered, and pointed beside her, "Is now in that box."

"But surely your late father-"

"He didn't like banks, Sir. We managed our own accounts. I've lost almost everything and I certainly don't have the money to bail myself out."

The man from the insurance company grimaced: "I'm so sorry." He undid one of the chunky buckles on his briefcase and removed a small rectangle of luxurious cardboard. "If you have need to financial support, I have a colleague you can reach here. He's a good man, I'm sure he would help."

Hari accepted the card with a nod. She doubted she would be contacting this man despite whether he could work miracles or not, and discreetly ripped the card in two when the suited man from the insurance company had left. The little hopes held inside of her heart had been overcome by cold logic:

Argyle's had quite literally gone up in flames. A new boutique and haberdashery rising from the ashes was near impossible.

* * *

Box held tightly to her tummy, Hari wandered the streets of Logue Town. She wondered what she should do next.

In the box was approximately enough money to barely sustain herself for a year in Loguetown, that was in the scenario she used it lavishly and took no new occupation. Three years at most, if she eked every last Beli and found some form of employment in between.

Exiting her mathematical reverie, Hari found herself stood by the docks she had visited earlier. The last dregs of light were disappearing; the storm having moved on and leaving an eerie calm behind. The vessels docked bobbed with the gentle currents, accompanied by the faint sound of canvas sails and flags flapping in the light evening breeze.

Hari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She placed the sturdy box she was carrying down on the ground, and sat on the lid. Her hands gripped her knees. She bit her lip. Was it even worth staying in Logue Town? Perhaps she should try and find passage to a smaller island where the cost of living would be easier? Maybe she should just find employment on a ship? She could earn her keep from repairing clothes, upholstery and sails. Hari's mood brightened; she could do all of that and still be able to see the world. Ships were entering and leaving Logue Town all of the time, she'd certainly find a suitable position at some point.

"Wow, it's as if I can actually see the cogs turnin'…" Hair startled. The young-looking-but-old woman from the bar this afternoon was squatting down and looking up at her, a confused expression etched on her youthful features. "What's got you thinkin' so intently that I can smell smoke."

"I'm not thinking that hard, Auntie-!" Hari slapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, please forgive me. That just slipped out," she apologised, but the woman just laughed.

"So your brain isn't on fire, but I'm guessin' something' was?"

"My family's store. Burnt out, everything lost- except for this box," Hari rapped her knuckles on the boxes side. "Insurance man informed me my cover ran out this morning."

"Sucks to be you, I guess!" The woman chirruped, but wrinkled her nose as she got a good whiff of Hari's clothes. "Say, you got anywhere you can go? I swear I've seen you before…"

"Huh? No, actually. I was going to rent a room for the night until I got things sorted."

The youthful woman grabbed her hand, "Follow me. You can stay with me on Junky tonight, better than some scummy hotel. Get yourself cleaned up. I don't think I've got clothes big enough to fit you, but we can find somethin'. Heck, who needs bedsheets?"

Hari wasn't sure what the 'Junky' was, but nodded in assent anyway. She wasn't going to turn down the promise of a free hot shower and clean clothing, not even if she had no idea who the person offering such things was. As long as Hari didn't insult the woman about her appearance, she presumed she would be safe for the night.

'Junky' turned out to be one of the most interesting looking ships Hari had seen in a while; and because she lived in Logue Town, she'd seen some _interesting_ ships. The dark wood curving up at the port and stern ends reminded her of a crescent moon. Three masts ascended from the deck, though two of the tree sails were drawn down. One however was left open; making Hari think of a wide fish fin. Each of the panels of the open sail was a bright magenta pink- which instantly made her feel at home.

"This is my baby, Junky. We've been through a lot these past thirteen years. Honestly, people take one look at me and ask what business I'd have sailin' a ship- no other questions about my circumstances and stuff asked. I've been through all of the Blues; spent a bit of time on each one with little hassle. Got stuck in East Blue for a bit though. They're crotchety with young children, had somethin' happen to some kids over the last few years. One of them got blew up or somethin'. Anyway, got stuck on some island in the back arse of East Blue for, like, three years, because they thought I was younger than twelve. Nice people, but shit at listenin'-"

Hari nodded. The woman's constant stream of speech had left her dizzy.

The woman pulled her onto the spacious deck of Junky; "The shower is down there-" here, she pointed to the cabin, "- keep goin' straight until you reach the end of the hall, then it's the first door to the left after you've gone round the corner, 'kay? There's towels already in there that you can use."

Hari placed her box of belongings on the deck and smiled thinly, "Thank you, erm…?"

"Li-Anne."

"Thank you, Li-Anne."

Li-Anne rubbed the back of her slender neck shyly, "Don't worry about it, Kiddo. Just get yourself cleaned up. I'll try and find some sheets to wrap you up in. I'm burnin' those rags you're wearin'."

Thirty minutes later, Hari was clean and no longer smelling like a smoking chimney. Li-Anne knocked on the bathroom door while Hari was still submerged under the hot water. A stack of linens had been left in the corridor. Hari chose one out of the pile- a large pink sheet that had yellow polka dots printed in a fluently tiled pattern.

She pulled it inside the bathroom, laying it out flat. Currently, her body was wrapped in a fluffy purple towel, but her clothes remained in the room. As did her bag, which contained a small but extensive sewing kit.

Li-Anne's fist thwacked on the door just as Hari had begun cutting the fabric into unrecognisable pieces. "You goin' to be long kid? I want some supper. I'm sure you do too; saw you at that bar earlier- that's where I know you from. Service was shit there, right? Guess you found out your place was on fire not long after, huh?"

Once again, Li-Anne's intuitive guesses proved to be right. Hari's stomach released a loud grumble as she began pinning the freshly cut pieces of fabric together. "Could you give me another half an hour- I'm just starting to sew everything up."

"Did you just say 'sew'?"

"Yeah."

Li-Anne didn't answer back, so Hari took it as a sign to keep going. Another half an hour of uninterrupted needlework passed, and Hari lifted her creation out and away from her body. A pink and yellow polka-dotted set of makeshift dungarees hung limply in her grasp. Hari shrugged; the pattern didn't match up well at the seams, but on such short notice, what should she have expected? At least she had something fresh to wear.

Her underwear had fared better than the rest of her clothes, so she slipped it back on. Then she tried the dungarees. It wasn't her best attempt at garment making, but it would have to do on such short notice. The rescued savings would buy her a new set of clothes, though she was loath to spend any of the money rescued from the fire just yet.

"Here, Kiddo," Li-Anne called when Hari finally entered the kitchen. "Got you some food- _damn_! You really did say 'sew', huh?"

"Yes. I cut up one of your sheets, is that okay?"

Li-Anne regally wafted a hand around looking every bit the little princess; "It's no skin off my nose, if that's what you mean."

They ate in silence. Hari found herself staring off into space while chewing the food Li-Anne had prepared. It only tasted of ashes, no matter what it was she was scooping off of her plate. She needed to eat though, so Hari forced each tasteless mouthful down.

"So what are you goin' to do now?" Li-Anne questioned when they had both finished.

"I'm not sure, I had hoped to re-open the shop- but I don't have the funds or the Insurance company to claim from. Perhaps I could work on a ship as a seamstress? But if that fails…" Hari's face twisted into a wry smile; "I could always turn to piracy, I suppose."

With a solemn face, Li-Anne asked, "Then why don't you join me?"


	2. Episode 2

**DISCLAIMER** : All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed.

* * *

 **Only a short second chapter I'm afraid, but keep an eye out for the final instalment of this first Arc which should be up by Wednesday. There's more content being uploaded onto my Tumblr blog, which you can find the details of on my Profile.  
**

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!"**

* * *

 **Arc One: '** Darkest before the dawn!'

* * *

 _Episode 2. Only joking? Hari wishes! Setting sail for Grand Line!_

* * *

"I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. I think I took a blow to the head earlier- or the smoke has finally gotten to me," Hari laughed half-heartedly. "I could have sworn you just asked me to become a pirate!"

She laughed again, but Li-Anne's face remained serious. "That's because I just did."

"There! You did it again!" Hari chortled, hand snapping down lightly on the table as her shoulder shake; from fear or mirth, she isn't too sure.

"I'm not jokin' here, you brat!" Li-Anne snaps, "I'm deadly serious."

Hari folds over the table, her laughter becoming erratic. The soft heaves of her breathing morph into gentle sobs, her tears coating the wooden table top.

Li-Anne sighs and pinches the bridge of her dainty nose, "Oh Kiddo, don't cry. Please. You've had a tough day- more than tough, so just think it over yeah? I'm leavin' for Grand Line in two days, whether you're on board or not. So just go and think it over."

Li-Anne pats Hari's shoulder awkwardly. She collects their empty dinner plates and cutlery. They chime as she gathers them in one tiny palm.

* * *

After another restless night's sleep, Hari finds herself stood outside of the charred remains of the shop. She hugs the box she rescued the night before closer to her thin polka-dot dungarees. The hastily sewn straps are falling from her shoulders. She tiredly pushes them back into place, losing count of how many times she's had to repeat the action over the last few days.

If she closes her eyes, Hari can picture 'Argyle's' from _before_ : from when her father was alive, and the window frames and front door were painted annually. When people would crowd outside every month to be the first ones to see what new fashions Old Argyle had cooked up in her workshop.

She opens her eyes and all that remains of what was once a beautiful establishment, is now a burnt-out shell of memory. Her eyes water and burn; she longs for her _home_ , though she knows that cannot be. Then, she longs for anywhere she deems 'safe'. Hari ended up back at the docks, and spent another night of sleep tossing and turning as her head whirled, in the guest cabin on the Junky. She knew she couldn't encroach on Li-Anne's hospitality forever- unless she made a decision.

The next morning, Hari's back outside of the shop. Assured by an official that the fire-damaged building was safe to enter, Hari steels herself. Li-Anne had changed her plans at last minute; having been to purchase some spare Log Poses, she learnt that the sea would be too rough in order to leave and enter Grand Line smoothly for when she had planned, so Junky and the lone sailor would leave Logue Town a day early in order to miss the brunt of the weather. Hari had only a few ideas to make her decision; stay or go.

Her set of keys are still in the door. Hari removes them cautiously, as if she moved hastily the unlocked door would disintegrate under her touch. The keys are carefully placed inside the box of belongings and money cradled close to her chest.

Hari takes a very deep breath, and steps over the threshold.

Inside of the shop is blackened and charred; remnants of the haberdashery materials, the handmade clothes and mannequins are warped and melted. Ashes litter the wooden floor.

A peak inside the workshop confirms that all of her belongings and the more expensive equipment like the industrial sewing machine have also been reduced to scraps. Her hands run over the damaged work-bench that served as her bed.

Hari has made her decision, no matter how heart-breaking it is to admit defeat. She doesn't bother to lock the burned out remains of Argyle's Haberdashery and Boutique as she leaves, and crosses the street with grim yet determined smile.

Upon entering the Doskoi Panda store, she busies herself with collecting a few changes of clothes and other necessities. The trainee staff member behind the counter- a recent addition to the store, thanks to its popularity and Pat being overwhelmed by customers, gives her a curious glance. When a sufficient bundle is gathered in Hari's arms, she dumps the load onto the counter- making the trainee startle. The commotion has Pat running from the back of the store to find its source.

"What are you doing in here?" He garbles when her spots Hari, pointing one sausage finger at the young woman.

Flippantly, Hari replies; "Buying clothes?"

She raises her eyebrow when he begins to sputter. "But you can't do that- I won't allo-"

"Don't flatter yourself," she says lowly, making the trainee whom is still racking up the total of her items flinch, "I couldn't be bothered to walk anywhere better, and if I still had the shop I'd tailor my own- not like this mass-market tripe you're selling."

Pat turns a deathly shade or red: "Why you little-"

"In fact, if I still had the shop, I probably wouldn't be leaving for the Grand Line."

This elicits a dark chuckle from the greasy rotund man, who most likely had some involvement with the mysterious combustion of a well-established store; "You, on Grand Line? Ha! Going to be a pirate are we- don't make me laugh. You wouldn't last a day!"

Hari's return smile is thin and saccharine. "Watch me. I'll be wearing the clothes of my enemies for a while until I can get my hands on something much better. That'll be a long period of nurturing a grudge." Pat's face drains entirely of colour. "Oh! Before I go-" the trainee worker has finally bagged the clothes with trembling hands. Hari shifts her box of memories to her hip and takes the ostentatious Doskoi Panda bag's handles, ignoring the exclamation of 'You still have to pay for those, madam!', "-what's the time?"

Bemused, Pat checks the wrist watch lashed to his meaty wrist; "Well its-"

"Oh! Would you look at that- I've got to run!" With that, Hari is out of the door and sprinting for the docks, a brilliant smile on her face as she makes her first felony as a Pirate. She'd racked up quite the expensive bill from the items the trainee had totalled up on the cash register.

Seeing the shock and then instantaneous anger on Pat's face had lifted a heavy weight from her shoulders. Life felt good again.

* * *

Li-Anne had paced the perimeter of Junky's deck approximately forty-seven times in the last hour.

She worried one of her spiralling blonde pigtails, fluffing the hair as she deliberated. The sea breeze had ruined the styling she'd painstakingly sculpted that morning, but Li-Anne no longer minded. Her mind was all of a flutter; would Hari come? What happened if the younger woman decided sailing the fickle waters of Grand Line wasn't for her? How long was it appropriated to wait until hoisting anchor- Hari on board or not?

Li-Anne sighed. She'd finished the forty-eighth lap, and noted for the forty-eight time that everything on board was functional. She wondered whether she should go and take stock of the supplies she'd stowed away for the journey. If Hari did come along, they would have enough food, filtered drinking water and other liquids on the ship to last them a fair few islands, so long as nothing truly went awry and they kept stocking up as they went.

As it went, Li-Anne did not make another anxious check on the stores; too nervous to head below in case Hari showed up, she began to fiddle with the crisply ironed pleats of the pink sundress she was wearing. Smoothing them with her tiny palms, she sighed again.

Hari had been going through a rough time, Li-Anne had gathered that from what little the younger woman spoke of her life and what Li-Anne herself had gleamed from the local gossips of Logue Town. Loose lips were more likely to fly if they thought they were by a child too young to comprehend something of significance. It was one of the few qualities Li-Anne admired about her appearance. The drawbacks of being nearly middle-aged with the body of a pre-teen were horrendous.

 _"… -Anne!"_

Li-Anne blearily lifted her head, shaking it slightly. Had someone just called her name?

 _"Li-Anne!"_

Yes, that was definitely someone calling her name.

"Li-Anne!" The familiar voice was much closer now, "Throw down a rope, or a ladder or _something! Quickly please!_ "

"Hari!? Is that you?" The woman cried, scrabbling to send a rope ladder tumbling down the starboard side of Junky. A flurry of fancy paper bags and a large box (which surprisingly didn't empty its contents on the deck) landed by Li-Anne, followed by a panting Hari.

"I've just legged it from Doskoi Panda to here- and I think I've got some Marine's on my tail because of Pat," Hari wheezed.

"Mariejois no, what did you do?"

"Eh?" Hari puffed, "The clothing equivalent of a dine n' dash."

"Please tell me you're jokin'!" Li-Anne shrieked as Hari stowed her bags into Junky's cabin. The elder woman was currently dashing around the deck in a hurry to leave. The last thing they needed was Marines on the hunt for them when their journey hadn't even truly begun- though Li-Anne hoped to keep interactions with the upholders of 'justice' to a minimum; perhaps even going so far as to conceal the fact that both Hari's and her jaunt on the Grand Line wasn't totally sanctioned.

"I'm afraid not- got some free clothes out of it though, so I won't be cutting up any more of your linens." Hari seemed so proud of her first Pirate-deed that Li-Anne couldn't bring herself to chastise the nineteen-year-old. So much for the smooth exit; a few blurry white dots wearing caps and toting rifles had appeared in the distance, running full pelt towards Junky.

"Listen to me, we've got to move. Now." Li-Anne manoeuvred herself to stand behind the ships wheel, but her hands rested on a small metal lever; at the moment, the long lever rested neutrally in the middle of a strange 'H' shape descending through the deck. A long sturdy cord emerged from a hole drilled through the deck; it had a large metal handle at the end, covered in a red rubbery grip. "On the count of three, I want you to pull that cord with all you can- got it?"

Hari nodded, and bent down to take up the handle. It felt weighty, but she'd had more trouble moving large rolls of fabric to the workshop when Argyle's was still in full swing.

"One-"

 _'Stop!'_ one of the Marines from the large group approaching yelled.

"Two-"

They were getting too close-

"Three! NOW!"

Hari pulled the ripcord with all her might, and a large rumbling noise sounded from the bowels of Junky. Li-Anne quickly slid the lever into place on the strange 'H' shape- moving her hands swiftly then to the wheel as Junky started to shoot backwards. The Marines were left to stare dumbly at the speedy ship; their faces perplexed.

"This thing's _motorised?"_ Hari asked with a yelp as Junky turned and Li-Anne shifted the lever once more. The purring noise from below the deck sounded more intensely, and now Junky sped away from the dock.

"Six speed gearbox- made for cruisin'! We've had some good times, have Junky and I, travellin' through the Blues this way!" Li-Anne, while focusing intently on travelling up Junky's faster gears, laughed; the sound swung between fond and wild and honestly made Hari a little nervous.

Soon, Logue Town was just a blurred blip of a place in the distance; swallowed by the drawing clouds as the two women and the motorised ship drew closer to what Li-Anne informed Hari to be known as 'Reverse Mountain'.

"Why do they call it that?" Hari enquired, thoroughly confused and curious. For all her years, she hadn't heard of the place; though technically she's never had much need to travel. Argyle haggled with traders to get the best fabrics from all of the Blues and even Paradise, but rarely did he and his daughter leave town. There was one disastrous holiday involving a floating restaurant in the Eastern Blue that neither of the father-daughter pair would ever speak of again.

"The clue's in the title, Kiddo," Li-Anne replied, allowing the motorised ship to get pulled along by the current.

"But we're going to go up the mountain, not down it, right?"

Li-Anne snorted, "Yeah, we're goin' up; and so is the water."

"Eh?" Hair blinked.

"You heard me correctly the first time, Kiddo."

Hari chose not to comment, and instead busied herself with moving the hastily dumped Doskoi Panda bags she'd left in the cabin into an orderly pile. Hari dug through each one until she found what she'd been looking for: she'd guessed at Li-Anne's shoe size and had picked up a pair of thick soled leather boots with ornately tooled swirls carved into the panelling of the toe and ankles. The older woman's own hobnailed boots had been worn in places; Hari had noted during the time she'd spent on Junky thanks to Li-Anne's kindness. Hari had found a way to repay her for her hospitality; even if it had set Marines on them during their departure.

"These are for you," she said, extending the boots out to Li-Anne. "I never thanked you for taking care of me after…"

"You didn't have to, y'know?" Li-Anne replied in her gravelly voice, so unfitted for the appearance of a preteen. She took the boots though, and surveyed them with a critical eye. "Say, we've got a bit of time before we reach Reverse Mountain. I never had chance to welcome you aboard, did I?"

Hari shook her head. "We didn't really have the time. Things got a bit dramatic."

"What's life without a bit of drama though?" Li-Anne replied instantly, though regretted the slip of her tongue as Hari hunched in on herself.

"My life seems to be full of it at the moment," she whispered. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, and Hari sniffed, feeling her nose begin to drip.

Though her heart bled for the girl, (and truly it did), Li-Anne had had quite enough of tears and snotty noses for one week. Her stock of tissue boxes couldn't take much more abuse! The fragile hold of her temper snapped: "I get it, you've got it rough- but you need to buck up, Kiddo. I swear on the Pirate Kings grave- _god rest his soul,_ if you don't you'll wish you'd have stayed in Logue Town!"

"I'm sorry- I really, really am, but this is new and I've-" Hari sobbed a little, making Li-Anne's nose scrunch up in horror, "I'm going to try, but it hurts to smile."

"It'll get better," Li-Anne stated, voice uncharacteristically soft, "You'll see. It'll get better with time."

She hoped that Hari believed that too.

Li-Anne ran a hand over Junky's steering wheel, feeling the gnarls in the wood's grain hum under her touch. When no answer sounded from Hari, she turned, finding the young woman's attention fixated on something in the distance.

Li-Anne felt- rather than saw, the exact moment the current ensnared Junky. When she glanced into the distance, the foot of Reverse Mountain and the passage they would be taking upwards emerged from a thick cloud of water spray.

Li-Anne looked over her shoulder back to Hari.

The girl had gone bone white.

"We're going… up… _there_?" The squeaky question was posed so softly that Li-Anne nearly missed it.

"Of course," she crowed, "There's no goin' back now. We've caught the current; Junky's fast an' strong, but I've heard not even the most powerful ships can pull out of the direct stream into Grand Line."

"Oh ducking hell," Hari moaned, knees knocking a fraction. "I take it back- I _was_ joking about the Piracy thing."

Li-Anne snorted and shook her head; "Now you choose your time to be cowardly? I thought you were better than that!" She barked.

Hari straightened, her mind replaying the earlier confrontation with Pat. She felt a small fire start inside of her; not the torrent of flames that destroyed her home and business, but a candle's flicker of determination. Unknown to her, her own pale blue eyes flashed and Li-Anne smirked; recognising it as a sign of a gauntlet thrown and a challenge taken up.

"I'm going to be better," Hari replied. "Whatever this is- piracy, sailing, _whatever_ \- **_I_** ** _need it_** _."_

"Damn straight you do! You can start by stoppin' being so buggerin' cliché," Li-Anne called.

Junky began to shudder as the current drew them closer to the foot of the mountain, so Li-Anne dropped the ship down into a lower gear which would help control their speed and also the power needed to pull them upwards with the current; the choppy waters couldn't be expected to do all of the donkey work, after all. The sails (all three now open and resembling fish fins) filled with a strong breeze and Junky rocketed forward again.

"Hold on tight!" Li-Anne shouted as the ship lurched upwards. Unfortunately, Hari was nowhere near close enough to anything she could get a grip on, and slid backwards as the ship ascended into the cabin. She landed with a thump as she hit the wall of the perpendicular corridor.

A groan of pain slipped from her mouth as she pried herself from the wooden cabin's wall. On wobbly legs, Hari managed to pull herself towards the cabin's doorway; clinging at the tongue and groove panelling as though they were finger holds on a rock formation.

"More warning would have been nice, Li-Anne," Hari grumbled, a fine mist of spray showering her exposed arms and face. She pulled the loose dungaree strap further up her shoulder and pouted as the spray tickled her skin.

"Look up there!" Li-Anne crowed over the roar of the current, her hands gently adjusting Junky's wheel as the ship drifted closer to the gorge-like sides of the mountain. The four pathways of reverse mountain were meeting at the summit, each colossal flow of water crashing into one another and creating a fountain-like wall.

"Are we going to be able to get through that?" Hair asked, crawling unsteadily to her companion and clinging to the older woman's legs.

"Sure we can," Li-Anne reassured her, "Junky's not let me down yet."

Looking at the collecting wall of water, Hari had second thoughts on whether the ship would survive. She chanced a look behind her and instantly swallowed her opinions with a little tremor, for it was a bit late to stop and turn back. The water took them higher, gaining an almost staircase quality.

Li-Anne whooped: "We're nearly there!"

The ship dipped beneath them as the water level lowered, then suddenly-

"Holy shi- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

-they were air-born.


	3. Episode 3

**DISCLAIMER** : All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!"**

* * *

 **Arc One: '** Darkest before the dawn!'

* * *

 _Episode 3. Becoming the Captain! Drama on Pastello Island!_

* * *

Though Li-Anne reassured her that her face was in fact, not green from nausea, Hari groaned- feeling more bile rise to her throat. Her cheeks puffed out again. "Please tell me that we're never going through _that_ ever again," she said, though it was muffled by the palm clamped down over her mouth as she heaved.

"Not unless shit hits the fan big-time or we reach the end of it all, no, we won't have to do it again," Li-Anne rolled her eyes.

"Oh goody…" Hari replied with little enthusiasm. "So, where do we go now?"

Li-Anne rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Wherever the Log Pose directs us, I suppose."

"'Log Pose'?" Hari frowned, trying to remember where she'd heard that phrase before.

Li-Anne shot Hari a withering look; "You lived in _Logue Town_ , near the entrance to Grand Line, which had Marines and Pirates alike comin' and goin' all the time- surely you _must_ have heard _somethin'_ about it?"

"I have, but I just don't remember is all," Hari snipped back defensively, crossing her arms, "My trade was bespoke tailoring and haberdashery- not sailing, remember?"

"I do, for what little good it'll be out here. Roger give me strength…" Li-Anne groused. She flounced out her bouncy sundress' skirts with her small palms; the fabric making a sufficient swishing motion.

"For one," Hari continued, not discouraged by Li-Anne's disinterest, "I'm _very_ good with my hands."

"…"

"…"

"… I'm not even goin' to go into the depths of how much trouble that particular sentence could (and probably will) land you in," Li-Anne mumbled as Hari flushed.

Hari began to frantically wave her hands; "I didn't mean it like-"

Strapped to Li-Anne's wrist was one of the Log Poses she had bought prior to leaving Logue Town. A second and spare pose remained in the woman's room, along with her navigational charts and Junky's Log Book. The diamond shaped 'compass' in the centre of the glass sphere of the pose Li-Anne was wearing, situated on the lightly tanned wristband around her fragile wrist, began to whir uncontrollably.

"Oh, would you look at that," the older woman voiced, shoving her wrist in Hari's face, "We've got a hit."

"Why is it spinning like that?" Hari inquired, dizzily watching the compass point twirl.

"It means that it's begun to pick up a magnetic field in the distance. Very soon it will probably settle and point towards the nearest island. What surprises me is that we've located on in such a short time of sailin'," Li-Anne mused.

Hari's eyes widened, "Is that normal?"

"I'm not sure. Every route is different on Grand Line," Li-Anne told her, "Perhaps the island after this will take longer to reach? Perhaps we'll visit many islands? Perhaps fewer than normal? Perhaps our route will overlap with someone else's? Who knows?"

True to Li-Anne's earlier words, the red and white needle in the Log Pose stilled, pointing roughly to the north west. Both women squinted in an attempt to spot some land, to little avail. The high afternoon sun reflected off of the ocean and into their eyes.

"You seem very knowledgeable," Hari marvelled- a hand cupping her eyes to protect them from the sudden glare, "Have you been to Grand Line before?"

Li-Anne didn't answer straight away. The small woman turned her back on Hari to check the wheel. She withdrew a pair of children's binoculars from within the folds of her skirt and raised them to her eyes. Though she was loath to use them often, they were the only pair she could find suited to the size of her body. She'd found them in West Blue, and though she'd cringed at the pink floral pattern, Li-Anne was desperate enough to buy the set. "I'd give it about two hours before we reach land. You may as well go and unpack your stuff in the room you stayed in earlier."

Knowing that the older woman had conspicuously skirted around her question, Hari faltered. For a woman whom she had only known for a few days, Hari knew that she couldn't expect secrets and personal stories to come spilling forth. For now, that conversation topic was taboo around Li-Anne, and she would respect that the older woman was not ready to share her story. All people were uncomfortable on some level about their private lives; perhaps Li-Anne had more reason to be more guarded than most?

Hari rose from where she had been sat on the deck and made for Junky's cabin:

"Y'know, I'm glad it's you I'm sailing with- even though I've known you for so short a time," Li-Anne flinched, but said nothing. Her hands tightened on the ship's wheel a fraction. "Someone's got to know what they're doing on this ship, after all!" Hari chortled.

"Cliché as hell, Kiddo!" Li-Anne shouted, throwing the binoculars with force but missing her intended target.

* * *

Beyond the reach of Li-Anne's overtly-juvenile binoculars, awaited a spring isle; the first on Hari and Li-Anne's journey which their Log Pose had detected earlier. Its name was Pastello Island. With a small surface area, and an aging population of around three-hundred people, the hopes of the island's elders lay with their children and the youngest generations to continue on the naturally inherited skill of all of Pastello's people.

Though a spring island, the weather itself mimicked that of a season somewhat adrift of spring but not yet summer. The air was heated, but a refreshingly cool breeze reduced the temperature. It was a placid climate, suited to those who did not cope well in either the freezing cold or the scorching hot. The muted colours of the flowers growing on grassy banks and potted in people's gardens were perpetual. The leaves on the shady trees and the gentle hillocks, pale puce. Even the sand lining the beaches had lost some of its butter-yellow vibrancy; the foamless sea stretching into a milky blue as the tide rolled in.

As its name suggested, most things growing, built, and breathing were either cultivated, coloured, or clothed in pastel shades. But that did not mean the island was any less beautiful because of it's muted colours.

Despite their paled habitat and nature, the people of Pastello Island were in truth very differently inclined. 'An island of intuitive eccentrics', or so one high-ranking Marine official had commented when stationed with a full crew there in the past. They were pleasant people, had sedate lifestyles and little trouble caused by the islands citizens, but they were more well-known on the Grand Line for their abilities.

Each and every person born and raised _only_ on Pastello Island inherited a gift, no matter if one of their sires were not directly from the island itself. As they grew, children were nurtured into their gifts by watching the quiet lives of their peers and elders and learning to adapt; and when it did strike, inspiration struck much like a passing sneeze.

In the rush of an 'Achoo!' or a 'Bless you!', a weapon could be crafted. An ergonomic utility to ease the already tranquil lives of Pastello's inhabitants. A way to entertain young bratty children for mothers at their wits end. To organise your shoes. To strain your noodles. To-

Well, in the space of a sneeze new things were _always_ being invented on Pastello Island.

Hari, having spent an hour or so under the deck packing away her things and getting used to her new room on the ship, began to wonder about what the first island she would visit on Grand Line would be like. A cloud of dust made her sneeze as she ran a hand across a bare bookshelf adjacent to the single bed.

Somewhere on Pastello Island, a person shuddered; feeling a cold chill slip down their neck and back.

Having sorted through the… _liberated_ , Doskoi Panda clothes, Hari quickly changed. A pair of gaudy jeans and a strappy vest replaced her makeshift dungarees. She took the shoelaces from her sneakers and threaded the heavy ornate key to Argyle's front door onto it; placing it around her neck underneath the vest. With one lace missing, she couldn't very well wear the other shoe until some more shoe laces could be found, so swapped her footwear for some more liberated goods from Doskoi Panda; this time, a pair of plain flat sandals.

Another hour of sailing was spent up on Junky's deck, waiting quietly for Li-Anne to announce a sighting for land. Hari began to fidget after about fifteen minutes into said hour:

"Can we not go any faster?"

"I'm tryin' not to rely on Junky's gearbox, I pushed it hard going up Reverse Mountain earlier," Li-Anne had ceased using the powerful motor in the descent from Reverse Mountain to keep from unnecessarily using it. "Besides, we're not always goin' to have the luxury of usin' it- what happens if the thing blows one day and we're stuck relyin' on the wind or paddlin'?"

"But I'm getting antsy," Hari whined. She began to fidget and shuffle even more, just so Li-Anne got the message. "My Da' always hated it when I got antsy; said he couldn't get anything done."

Fortunately for Hari, Li-Anne relented in much the same fashion as Argyle had in Hari's youth: "Once- and _only_ this _once._ I'm never havin' kids, _"_ the elder woman muttered and huffed out of breath of exasperation; "Do you want to pull the rip cord again?"

"Oooh!" Hari's eyes sparkled, "Yes please!"

Having pulled the cord to start the motor, Hari settled back to the smooth wooden deck and crossed her legs. Junky's engine sputtered to life; Li-Anne struggling to slide the ship into gear. Reluctantly, the ship gathered speed, and chugged along the supple water with only a little disquiet. Li-Anne shifted up to the higher gears grudgingly as the engine note began to scream. For a short while, the ship settled- though some strange noises could be heard from the engine below. Then she ran out of gears:

"I knew I'd overdone it over Reverse Mountain," Li-Anne cursed, "We need to slow down before-"

 **BANG!**

Black smoke filtered out from beneath where the gear stick and rip cord were situated.

"Uh-oh!" Hari scrambled to her feet and began wafting the thick fumes past. She sputtered as some of wisps tickled her nostrils. It smelt awfully like the arson of Argyles, and brought tears to her eyes. Li-Anne made a hasty retreat below deck to check the engine room: Hari nearly reached out to stop the older woman. Instead, she grasped the key under her vest top firmly- as though she were holding her heart.

A few minutes later, Li-Anne re-emerged; stomping in her freshly-lifted Doskoi Panda boots, grim faced and covered in soot. Hari let out a breath she had been holding.

"Nothin's burnin', but the motor's shot," she said, rubbing her temples and grimacing when her fingertips came back a dull grey. "Everythin's goin' to smell wretched for a bit until it's repaired and we've cleaned the place up again."

"It's nothing serious though?" Hari asked hopefully.

"Depends; if the island we reach doesn't stock parts then we'll be sailin' off the back of currents,

wind, or just plain ol' paddling until we reach the next one."

"Please, no- anything but that!" Hari groaned, "I'm going to get so bored-"

"I thought you only get 'antsy' after so long? Where's this boredom thing comin' from?" Li-Anne quirked. "Honestly, what did you think life at sea would be like: all sunshine, islands and happy smilin' loonies?" Hari opened her mouth- "You know what, save it. You probably did."

"I didn't think there'd be so much time spent travelling between islands," Hari mumbled, "I'll need to pick up some supplies or something else to do when we get there- by the way, how far away are we?"

"About ten minutes now," Li-Anne confirmed and Hari cheered. "Don't get your hopes up, they might not allow pirates to come in-land."

Hari looked perplexed; "But you don't have a thingy-ma-bob."

"Thingy?"

"Y'know," Hari flailed, "The flag thingy that pirates have. I've seen them when they've been docked at Logue Town- they cover the sails and stuff."

Confusion flickered over Li-Anne's face, "Do you mean a Jolly Roger?"

"Yeah! The thingy!"

"Huh…" Li-Anne scrubbed at her sooty cheek, "You're right. Didn't think about that, actually… I suppose we could just not mention the piracy thing unless we get found out? We're a crew of two, so that might actually be safer."

Hari smiled; "I'm not really the pirate-y type, truthfully."

Li-Anne didn't grace that with a response and just rolled her eyes. "We'll worry about our Jolly Roger later then, when we agree that I'll be the Captain of this ship," she stated fondly.

"Why do you get to be the Captain? You're already the Navigator, Mechanic and Cook," Hari objected. " _I_ should be Captain! After all, I've got nothing better to do but supervise until I can start sewing again."

"I call Sea King shit!"

* * *

At the centre of Pastello Island lay the Town Hall, which also doubled as the home of the current Chieftain of the Island and his family.

Chief Coquelicot, his wife, and his sixteen-year-old daughter resided behind high stretching pale-lime walls. Yet although the outside of the sprawling mansion house, with its luscious pastel gardens and muted gravel pathways portrayed the epitome of what the citizens of Pastello Island should seek to emulate, inside the home was anything but tranquil.

The self-regulating marble floors and aerodynamically twisting staircases made a great setting for dramatic moments, or so Coquelicot had begun to learn when concerning his daughter, Carnation.

Carnation, who preferred to go by 'Cana' when not being spoken to by anyone but her parents, was currently stomping up the translucent spiral stair case after using the heels of her shoes to intensely click across the marble. She stopped about halfway up to turn and pierce her father with a dramatic look as she ground her teeth stubbornly; "I love him, daddy- and _he loves me!_ We're going to be together, and there's nothing you can do to stop us!"

With that, Carnation stomped up the remaining steps. Chief Coquelicot could recall off by heart the number of strides before she reached her room and there it was-

SLAM!

-Cana's bedroom door slammed shut.

"I don't understand that girl," the Chief grumbled to his wife, "What happened to my precious Little Flower? She no longer wants to invent things with me or spend time in the workshops! All it is is 'Lucien _this'_ and 'Lucien _that'!_ Bah!"

"She's young and in love, dear," replied his wife with a coy smile, "You remember that well, do you not?"

Coquelicot flushed; "Er, _well_ … She's too young to fall in love! _I_ _ **forbid**_ _it!_ "

His wife sighed, "She can't be your 'Little Flower' forever, my love. She's already beginning to blossom into a fine young woman."

"We'll see about that," the chief groused.

* * *

Meanwhile, Li-Anne was lashing Junky to a wooden jetty on the coast of the island.

"Are you ready to go?" She called to Hari, who was collecting a wad of Beli's from the memory box in her room.

"Yeah!" Hari cried, leaping over the side of Junky and nearly losing all of her money.

Li-Anne watched without amusement, beginning to note that Hari was usually one to get herself into scrapes and wondering if she shouldn't have allowed her on the ship back at Logue Town. "Roger, I need a drink."

"We may as well go to a bar first then, we'll be likely to find out about the island there; drink-loosened lips n' all, yeah?"

"Hari, sometimes your logic astounds me," Li-Anne stared, as Hari raced on ahead- kicking up sand in her wake. "Hey- wait up! I've only got little legs!"

Eventually, in the pastel streets they located a tavern; this painted a slightly darker pastel-eggplant-purple than its surrounding buildings. Before entering through the automatic saloon doors- painted duck-egg blue, Li-Anne collared Hari; "When we go in there, you're goin' to have to order somethin' alcoholic and a juice or somethin' for yourself- you'll give me the booze."

"Why would I-?"

"Do you remember the first time we met back in Logue Town?" Hari nodded; vaguely recalling that there was much protestation, biting, and mockery in that one bar than there should have been. "I don't want a repeat of that, so you'll do the orderin'."

Li-Anne, salivating over the prospect of alcohol, dragged Hari inside; "Go on Kiddo, I'll go get us a table."

Gingerly, Hari made her way to the bar. A weathered woman with gentle features smiled as she approached, but cast a man leant against the bar a dark look as his head turned to Hari out of interest.

"What can I get you?" The woman asked, her voice smooth. Her greying blonde hair hung in heavy spikes around her head, a loose simply cut blouse with rolled up sleeves covered her caramel shaded skin.

"Ah… May I have the house special and a fruit juice, please?" Hari asked, unsurely.

"Such polite manners," the woman crowed, then spat; "You'd do well to take notice, Lucien."

"Oh, don't worrrrry," the man purred. "I have alrrready taken notice." His tapered eye's trailed the length of Hari's body, gaudy Doskoi Panda jeans and all. He winked; "I think I can learrrrn much frrrrom you~"

Hari's eyebrows rose, and she willed herself not to snort. The rolling 'R' sounds were getting to her. Perhaps the man had issues, or it was an inflection he had been raised with- however, if his purring usually attracted women there must have been something terribly wrong with the female population on this island. Not that Hari was really bothered about attraction or romance: she'd tailored enough suits in the Argyle's' heyday and acquired enough knowledge to determine whether someone was deemed handsome or not. Working with an array of snooty characters over the years had also taught her that beauty wasn't everything.

"Don't you go heckling my customer, boy. You forget you've got that sweet girl of yours, skirt-chaser."

"Therrrre is no harrrrrm in looking, Mirrrriam," Lucien grumbled. "Anotherrrr glass of yourrrr finest, if you so please?" Cockily, he held his glass aloft.

Miriam's eye's narrowed, but she took the glass.

"So… wherrrre do you come frrrrrom?"

"Ah, we've, _um_ , just entered Grand Line…?"

Lucien's eyes gleamed with the intensity of a predators, which made Hari more than a little nervous.

Hari narrowly escaped an onslaught of smarmy attention as Miriam set a tray containing two drinks down on the bar top. "Here you go, my lovely- the tray will keep the drinks at optimum temperature until the glasses are empty; so you and your little friend in the corner there can enjoy them for as long as you like."

Lucien began to growl, and Hari shifted uneasily; "Ah, how much will that be?"

"On the house, my dear- you go enjoy yourself," Miriam smiled, the lines on her face softening.

"But surely-"

The tray was thrust into Hari's hands; "Go, it's a rare treat not to be grunted at and have money thrown on the counter by a patron. For me, that's payment enough from you," Miriam told her firmly.

So, Hari located Li-Anne in the far corner, and made her way through the various empty tables to get to her crewmate. "You just had to pick a table that was out of my way, didn't you?"

"Mm, yeah sure, give me my drink," Li-Anne replied distractedly. A small trickle of drool leaked from the corner of the elder woman's mouth in anticipation. She grabbed the cooled tumbler out of Hari's hand and gulped back half of it before coming up for air; "Woo, that's the stuff…"

Li-Anne wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. When she spoke, her smoky voice was quiet; "As for why this table, I don't trust tall, dark and feline over there."

"Hm," Hari tapped her chin as she twirled the long curly straw in her juice drink. She took a sip; "Oh, lovely, orange and pomegranate!"

She took a deeper sip and grinned appreciatively at the taste.

"You done?" Li-Anne said, deadpan. Hari nodded.

"I swear on my memory box, the man _purred_ ," Hari whispered, leaning closer to Li-Anne. "I didn't like the way he was looking at my jeans too- I mean, they _spangle."_

Li-Anne face contorted, "I don't think he was checkin' out your jean's, Kiddo. Still, best to keep an eye open for that one."

The two sipped their drinks in content silence, marvelling at how the tray did in fact keep them at optimum temperature whenever they placed the glasses back down. The duo tried to work out where the coolant source came from, going so far as to flip the trap over to inspect the bottom and sides. No vents or storage spaces for ice could be found, only a small sliding dial under the lip of the tray that ranged from one temperature extreme to another. The tray was currently set at '3°C', and had kept the tall tumblers containing their drinks and cubes of ice cool through the duration of their sipping.

"That is so well thought-out," Hari stated, Li-Anne nodding along with her.

"What is this island?" Li-Anne thought aloud, "They can make things like this, but none of it reaches beyond here- unless they can't get goods out into the Blues. Grand Line should have been a doddle though; people would pay for this kind of tech."

"The 'goods' as you so put it," chimed in a third voice, "Arrrre specialites of Pastello Island."

"Oh, so that's where we are," Li-Anne exclaimed. "Could you tell us more?"

If Lucien had noted that the older (though not in appearance) woman's voice didn't quite match to her youthful exterior, he said nothing; "Of courrrrrse. I would be delighted to." Here, he leered at Hari, who wiggled in her seat and tried not to make eye contact with the purring stranger.

"Would you mind takin' us to the person in charge here then?" Li-Anne requested, and Lucien blanched.

"I can take you as farrrrr as the Town Hall, but no morrrrrre."

"Deal. Drink up Hari, we've got information to collect."

Hari startled and shot Li-Anne a betrayed look, while Lucien grinned like a cat; "Yourrrr name is Harrrrrrrrri?"

" _Hari_."

"Haaaaaaaaari?"

Said woman in question's cheeks puffed out; "No. Hah- _ri_."

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr-rrrrrrreeee?"

"Close enough," Li-Anne snorted, tapping her foot impatiently.

During the walk to the Town Hall, Hari- much to Li-Anne's disgruntlement, used the small teen-shaped woman as a buffer to the purring-moron. The latter kept sending appreciative glances- that were not all that appreciated, to Hari's vicinity, and failed to initiate benign small-talk at every opportunity available.

Li-Anne found it all very amusing to watch the younger woman squirm. From what she could gather, Hari had been quite sheltered; the only man in her life being her father and then the despicable oaf who burnt down her family business- though the previous crime could not be proven. Watching Hari fumble around Lucien, an older and interested- if a little… _odd,_ party, was enough to forget all of the times Hari had managed to test her patience in the short four hours they'd been sailing together.

And there had been a lot of patience-testing moments.

"Lucien!" A lilting voice called. The trio walking to the Town Hall halted; Lucien's body stiffened to likeness of stone. "Lucien, I was just on my way to see you."

"Cana," the man hissed, shooting panicked glances to the two travellers with him.

'Cana' could not have been more than sixteen, and the complete opposite of the man she was trying desperately to draw into her willowy arms. Where she was small and lithe, with dextrous hands and luscious, long flowing, light brown hair, he was tall and bulky; his nose was crooked and hooked, his hair slick and dark. His features were pointed, and hers rounded and dainty- his eyes heavy lidded and a rapacious yellow-green, while Cana's were wide and bright.

"I missed you, and Daddy was being awful. So I snuck out!" The girl chirped, her cheeks dimpling. Lucien managed to sneak a covert look at Hari, who watched the scene with veiled interest. The glance was not missed by Cana, who cleared her throat expectantly.

"My darrrrrling, I missed you too," Lucien replied robotically. "But I am in need of yourrrr fatherrrr's assistance with these two; they arrrrrre new to the island, my love."

Cana's dazzling smile twisted, tears glazed her eyes: "But I only just escaped the house- I thought you'd want to spend time with _me_ ," she said pointedly, eyes locking with Hari's.

"Everrrrry moment I spend away frrrrom yourrrr beauty pains me, Cana, but as a citizen of Pastello Island I have a duty to these newcomerrrrrrs to guide them," Cana seemed to swallow his excuse, and slipped her slim hand in his.

"I'm sure that Daddy will be able to help them," she reached up on tip-toe to kiss his shadowed cheek, "I shall lead you there!"

She pulled Lucien along with her, who mournfully stared back over his broad shoulder at a bemused Li-Anne and Hari.

"Well, that was…" Li-Anne smacked her childishly plump lips together.

"'Interesting'?" Hari supplied.

Li-Anne made a sound of agreement, "That too, but I was thinkin' more along the lines of 'overly clingy'."

Lucien cast another sad look at the pair. Cana noticed, and tugged on his arm hard enough that an audible _crack_ could be heard, even from where Hari and Li-Anne were standing. The pair winced, and Lucien provided them another pleading puppy-dog look.

"Shouldn't we be following them?" Hari asked.

"Eh, I guess so," Li-Anne shrugged.

* * *

Chieftain Coquelicot, as Hari and Li-Anne soon came to understand, was very protective of his daughter. He had noticed her missing, having knocked on the door with a platter of her favourite foods in hand as a white flag; the melodramatic gentle swaying of the voiles surrounding her balcony window revealing an all to empty room and one successful escape attempt.

Having gone spare at finding his daughter gone, Coquelicot scoured the whole house, then the gardens, and to Cana's mortification… the streets.

"Carnation! Remove yourself from that heathen's arm this instance!" The Chieftain roared himself red in the face.

Lucien was all too happy to slip out of Cana's arm-crunching hold and sidled behind Li-Anne and Hari, who had caught the 'happy' couple up.

"Honestly, Dad, you're so annoying," Cana flipped her caramel-brown locks over her bird-like shoulder, "I'll see you soon dahrrrrling~"

She blew a kiss to Lucien, who caught it clumsily. Both of the travelling duo's faces crumpled up in humour at the teen's imitation of her lover's rolling 'R''s. Cana skulked past her father and towards her home; the pastel-puce Town Hall.

"You won't be seeing him again in this lifetime!" The Chieftain commanded at her retreating form, "As if I would let my precious Little Flower be snatched away by this wolf in sheep's clothing."

Lucien's eye's narrowed dangerously, and he smirked; "You know perrrrrfectly wherrrre my interrrrests lie, Sirrrrr."

The Chief inclined his head, sizing up the other man.

Cana scoffed from hallway across the house's threshold; "With me, obviously." She turned to Lucien expectantly, who gave her a strained smile.

"Go inside, Carrrrrna, yourrrr fatherrrrr and I must talk." The girl did as Lucien bid, while the Chieftain hissed and spat in the background; positively narked off by the fact that his daughter wouldn't listen to _him_ but hung off of every word that spilt from her (greasy, good for nothing, scummy, 'I don't trust him- people who are trustworthy don't purr!', free-loading, low-life) boyfriend's mouth.

"Sirrrrrr," Lucien began tentatively, "These two ladies arrrre new to the island. They wish to know morrrrrre about Pastello- I thought it best forrrr them to meet you. Ladies, this is Chieftain Coquelicot, leaderrrr of Pastello Island."

Chieftain Coquelicot was a squat man with peppered curling grey hair. The wiry texture had turned as silvery as precious metals by his temples. His skin was tanned from hours spent working under the sun when inspiration hit. Kind lines marred his forehead and lower face, and his eye's crinkled when he smiled and laughed- both actions which were becoming rarer during the latter part of his reign as his only daughter grew older. The tropically patterned shirt (in wishy-washy purple and soft yellow) was neatly pressed and buttoned, and paired with relaxed beige trousers befitting a man in his late fifties. The rubbery beach sandals on his feet creaked as his toes curled inwards when Lucien smirked and left.

"I despise that man," Coquelicot confided in them, as though it wasn't already apparent that there was conflict between the two. "He turned up out of the blue about two years ago, when my Little Flower was fourteen or so. Wanted to settle down here, and is far too interesting in trying to know more about our skills and the technology we make."

Coquelicot directed them inside his home, "Of course, he only began to notice Carnation when she turned sixteen. It's the only thing that's kept me from leathering him before now, that he knew when it was appropriate to approach her."

Hari knew she would regret asking this; "Why? How old is he?"

Coquelicot 's foot stomped onto the marble flooring in the hallway, causing a foot-shaped dent to appear in the surface. One of many, if the patching on the floor had any say. "Twenty-six," the Chieftain bit out.

"Oh wow," Li-Anne said flippantly as Hari hid her face behind her hands, "Ten years is… ah, um… 'Wow'?"

The Chief smoothed down his wiry hair, it having come uncurled in his rage. He coughed; "Ah, you wished to know more about the island?"

Li-Anne stepped forwards, "Yes, we've only just entered the Grand Line you see, and my guidebook on the islands has a few gaps in its knowledge- it's quite a few years out of date you see…"

"You're pirates then?" Coquelicot inquired, brightening at the prospect.

"No!" Li-Anne vehemently denied.

"Yes, actually," Hari chimed.

The two shared a pointed look, silently communicating through snarling teeth (Li-Anne), and worried, wide eyes (Hari).

"Yes, we are pirates-" Li-Anne began, nodding her head.

"No, no, pirates? _Pfffsh!_ I couldn't 'Pirate' even if my life were at stake!" Hari laughed apprehensively.

When the two turned to look at one another with equally betrayed glowers, Chieftain Coquelicot howled with laughter:

"Pirates or not, I like the pair of you. Feel free to ask me about the island as much as possible. Darling?" The Chief called, "We've got guests!"

"Oh my!" A tall, bird-like woman exclaimed rounding the corner. She bore a striking resemblance to Cana; the greying caramel-brown hair hung loose and long to her collar bones, straight as a pin except for the two fat curls that spiralled away from her shoulders and up to her chin like the colourful lollipops Hari has seen children snacking on around Logue Town. Rosy strings of pearls adorned her neck and dangled from her earlobes. Her features were fine and elegant, only a few laughter lines and creases folding on her face as she smiled prettily. It appeared that Cana had inherited her mother's beauty, but also her father's height; the Chieftan's wife towered over him. Cana had also inherited her father's small nose, for her mother's hooked like the beak of an exotic bird.

"Darling, I'd like you to meet…?"

"I am Li-Anne, and this is Hari," Li-Anne stuck a thumb out to Hari's general direction; the girl was still wondering if this was Coquelicot 's term of endearment for his wife or literally the woman's name.

"It is lovely to meet you, we so rarely receive guests- please, call me Darling," The woman- Darling, Hari mentally corrected (because it was her name after all), smiled again; her eyes glowing with happiness. "Dear, why didn't you tell me they were coming," Darling admonished her husband.

He shifted under the warm look she shot him, "I didn't know, my love. _He_ brought them to the door, along with Carnation."

Darling sighed and clasped her hands under her chin forlornly, "That girl… what are we to do with her?"

Coquelicot squoze his wife's forearm tenderly- it was the only appropriate place he could reach, considering her lofty height. Hari and Li-Anne fidgeted awkwardly and looked away from the touching scene of two troubled parents with a tearaway teenager daughter in love to watch over.

Darling gasped, her erect spine straightening out more, if possible. "Tea!" Her eyes widened, "I'll go and make a pot-"

With that, she dashed away.

Chieftain Coquelicot grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. He directed the pair of half-hearted pirates to a seating area, and prompted them for their questions:

"We stopped at a bar before coming here," Hari told the Chief, "And the barwoman gave us a tray that self-regulated the temperature of the drinks until we had finished with them and the glassed were empty."

"Miriam's always been good at tinkering with her bar equipment. The tray she gave you she whipped up in a snap a few years back, when we had this horrid turn of hot weather- she's a right dab hand, though most people are on this island. Couldn't do anything but sit and try and drink something cold, that is, if you could get one before the damn sun made it lukewarm," Coquelicot told them, frowning as he recalled one of the previous summers.

"Surely it can't have been that bad?" Li-Anne was sceptical.

"We lost Trev that year. Poor bloke spent three hours outside lost in his own plans, and dropped out of absolute heat exhaustion. Nice chap he was too."

Hari's face was a perfect mask of horror. Li-Anne decided it was in both of their interests if she didn't ask in depth about how dangerous the local climate could be: "You said Miriam 'invented' her tray; what do you mean by that? Surely somethin' like that would be commercial by now, it'd certainly sell."

Chieftain Coquelicot chortled; "Pastello Island's inhabitants- those born here with one parent already from the island, that is, are all gifted. We don't know how we do it, but it's as though there is a fuse lit in our heads from a young age. When the fuse runs down, there's an explosion!"

The Chief's hands suddenly spread wide, causing Hari to jump out of her seat: "Then we get these ideas. No one really knows where it comes from, or why, but they do and then things get invented."

"Only people born with one native parent though?" Li-Anne probed.

Coquelicot made a sound of affirmation, just as Darling smoothly laid a tea tray onto a small serving table. "It seems that way; but we don't really hear from people who emigrate to elsewhere. The children brought up here see adults inventing all of the time, so it is natural that on top of the innate skills passed down they would learn to fine tune their abilities."

Darling poured equal measures of pleasantly floral scented tea into a fragile pastel patterned cups and handed one to Hari.

"How long does a Log Pose take to register here?" Li-Anne asked, as Darling handed the woman her own cup.

"About four days," Chieftain Coquelicot reeled off, and without further ado he began to spout about the history of Pastello Island with pride. Hari leant forward and sipped her tea, listening intently.

"Excuse me," Li-Anne whispered loudly as Darling made to sit by her husband. The woman leant down closer to Li-Anne, who tapped the rim of her tea cup; "Would you happen to have any gin I could pour in here?"

"Oh my!" Darling covered her mouth with a slender hand, "Are you not a little young for something so strong?"

Li-Anne shrugged; "The kid next to me maybe, but I'm thirty-two."

"Oh my, oh my!" Darling giggled, "How do you stay so fresh looking?"

"Honestly, I couldn't begin to know in order to tell you. It sure surprises people though, when the pre-teen lookin' shrimp can drink like a fish and them under the table." Li-Anne continued mulishly; "I wish I could have stopped growin' at about eighteen instead though; people might take me a little more seriously then."

Darling patted the woman's shoulder; "People believe that I'm only a pretty face, never mind the fact that I made the most potent Government-sought defensive weapon on this island. My husband married me for a reason, after all."

The women smiled wryly at each other; it seems they had struck an accord.

"I'll see about that gin," Darling said.

* * *

Finally escaping from Chieftain Coquelicot 's lecture, a slightly sautéed Li-Anne had to be carried by Hari back to Junky.

"Roger, that man could drone on- I don't know how Lin-Lin _-hic-,"_ since this was the overly affectionate name a drunken Li-Anne had dubbed Darling with, "-puts up with _-hic-_ him."

"You're a very mean drunk, do you know that?" Hari said as Li-Anne took fistfuls of Hari's short brown hair into her small fists and began to tug on them like a horse's reins.

"Feh!" Li-Anne puffed.

"There was no need to make him cry; he was being very helpful, and the island's history is very interesting."

"I've got nearly three more days of gettin' wasted enough to block him out," Li-Anne planned out loud, fists tightening around Hari's hair. "Lin-Lin will drink with me! She understands."

"Understands what exactly?" Hari muttered under her breath, wincing. For someone so small, she was definitely strong. Li-Anne, though buzzing from the gin, overheard her mumbling.

"What it's like to be un'dres… un… _urgh_ … _underestimated_ ," Hari could believe that Li-Anne's bottom lip was pushed out in sheer stubbornness, as the tone of her voice indicated childish whining when her gin-numbed tongue could properly function again. "Can you believe that she's responsible for inventin' most of the weaponry and defences on this island?"

Spotting Junky bobbing about in the harbour, Hari released an enormous sigh of relief; "Looks can certainly be deceiving, Li-Anne. You surely wouldn't be mistaken for a woman in her thirties, and Darling seemed like, well, a darling."

Hari pulled Li-Anne aboard Junky with little patience, and let the older woman topple onto the deck in an inebriated heap.

"Can you believe this body of mine?" Li-Anne slurred, her slim index fingers poking at her plump, flushed cheeks and dimples; "I look thirteen- Mariejois! I get pimples still at my age."

"How interesting," Hari said, unenthusiastically.

Unknown to the two women, a figure shaded by the night's shadows had overheard their conversation. He- the figure, grinned and pulled a baby Den-Den Mushi from the billowing sleeves of his white shirt.

The Den-Den Mushi's dialling tone cut off with a sharp click as the receiver was picked up.

"Report," a voice garbled through the tiny snail's mouth.

"I have some interrrrrresting news forrr you, Sirrrr. The girrrrls motherrrr is a specialist in crrrrreating weaponrrry- if I could-"

"Forget the mother," the voice crackled, "Bring the girl. She will be easier to deal with."

"As you wish, Sirrrrr."

* * *

Over the course of the next two days Hari leant many things about life on the Grand Line. The first was that the weather conditions could change at the drop of a hat:

On their second day at Pastello Island, Hari and Li-Anne had spent most of their time at Miriam's bar just for something to do as the rain poured down. Miriam's serving trays kept their hot drinks toasty warm, and the amiable elderly barkeep was only too happy to provide Li-Anne with a little tipple to pour into her spiced tea; her reaction similar to Darling's about Li-Anne's age and appearance.

Hari also learnt that the smell of burnt-out motorised boat permeated through everything, so many of the doors on Junky were left wide open when the weather cleared to try and rid the ship of the stench.

On the third day, though the ground and air felt damp and heavy, the duo explored the island. Li-Anne made sure to pick up a few perishables that would hopefully keep in Junky's refrigerator until the next island. Hari found a small shop that sold household supplies, and purchased a small handy-to-have-nearby sewing kit. The needles weren't the best grade compared to the one's in the kit in her own bag- which she had left on Junky, but they would serve as replacements should others go missing or get broken.

The third day, shopping trip aside, was spent with Chieftain Coquelicot and Darling; the couple had sent them an invitation for dinner, and Li-Anne accepted. Free food and booze was not to be sniffed at, according to Li-Anne. Hari voiced some complaint, knowing that Carnation would also be present at the dinner table. The teenager had sent Hari approximately seventy-eight withering glances to count, though Hari wasn't sure about what she had done to earn such looks.

"Her 'boyfriend' givin' you the eye isn't reason enough to go on the defensive?" Li-Anne questioned when the pair's conversation turned to that precise topic.

"I can understand that, but I didn't exactly encourage him," was Hari's muffled response as she struggled to pull another skimpy Doskoi Panda shirt over her head.

"See, this is why I told you not to trust a man who purrs; they come with problems that differ than the ones with their speech." Li-Anne surveyed Hari's outfit, which revealed far too much of her midriff than the young woman in question would have liked. "I think we need to get you some new clothes…"

"I think so too," Hari agreed mournfully. "You look very nice though."

Li-Anne had dusted off a pink tea-dress from the back of her wardrobe. She kept her fluffy trademark pigtails and heavy boots though, in order to look every bit the rebellious princess. On later reflection, Hari wasn't sure why she strapped her portable sewing kit to her belt. Perhaps so she could work on something if dinner got too awkward at the Town Hall, or if Cana became overbearing. The familiar weight by her right hip soothed her, as did the key to Argyle's hung around her neck. The other keys on the ring were still in the memory box, a dull, heavy reminder as to what she had lost recently.

Dinner was exceptionally awkward, though Darling was cordial as ever; but she had taken Hari's sewing kit away from her on the doorstep with an intrigued expression, panicking Hari somewhat. The young woman had thought she'd committed a social faux pas, but when Darling joined the dinner table some time later and placed the kit beside Hari again, her smile was serene if somewhat sorry for having taken the kit away in the first place. It contrasted greatly from Chieftan Coquelicot and Carnation's own stormy facades. The tension during the starter course was thick enough to saw through with steak knife, but reached its peak as the main course was served.

"So you would invite riff-raff to dine with us, but not the love of my life?" Cana sniffed.

"Over my dead body will _that man_ be allowed into this house," Coquelicot flung back.

"That can be arranged, urrgh!" The Chief's daughter snarled, grasping her dessert spoon tightly. Her chair scraped back inelegantly, and the teen threw the spoon harshly to the table top before she flounced upstirs to her room.

Thick tears began to roll down Chieftain Coquelicot 's face, which he covered with his gnarled hands. Darling rubbed her husband's back as he began to sob.

"Where did I go so wrong raising my little girl?" The husband asked his wife. "Where? Can I ever put it right?"

As Darling looked too unsure to answer the man plainly, or didn't know where the tracks had derailed herself, Hari cleared her throat:

"My own father passed away not long ago," she said to the couple, "And there are so many things I wish I could say to him that I hadn't when he was still alive. Would he be okay with me just upping and leaving when someone burnt down the business he had built from scratch? I don't know, he'd probably be livid with me for abandoning it. What he would be happy with about my decision to do so is that for the first time in a while I am genuinely happy."

Li-Anne looked up from her emptying dinner plate in surprise. Hari had always seemed more reserved in the scant few days she had known her in Li-Anne's own opinion; her smiles always falling short.

"I'm not as happy as I could be, but I'm getting there," Li-Anne snorted; she had her answer. "But it was my own decision to sail out with Li-Anne- _mine_ , and mine alone. If this venture ends badly, then on my own head so be it. But for the most part, this past week I've smiled and laughed more that I had in the three years since Da' passed away."

"Is that why you turned to piracy?" Coquelicot queried.

"M'not ah pi'wrate," Hari protested, mouth full of the creamy chicken Darling had cooked for the main course. She chewed and cleared her throat; "Yet."

"Exactly," Li-Anne drawled, "What kind of pirate ship doesn't have a Jolly Roger or a designated Captain?"

"Ours, considering we left in such a rush," Hari returned as she dabbed at her lips with a napkin. "But to answer your question, no. I honestly thought Li-Anne was joking about the pirate thing. Turned out she wasn't, and I'm in it for the long-haul now. More importantly than that, what I'm trying to say is that Carnation is at the age where she's ready to make her own mistakes and that you must let her do so."

Darling clasped her hands together over her heart; "Even if it will break her heart?"

"Even then," Li-Anne nodded.

The pudding that Darling served was delicious, even if those eating it were somewhat subdued.

* * *

When the sun rose on the fourth morning Li-Anne and Hari spent at Pastello Island, it was to the chorus of ripping seems:

"I don't care about your stupid grudge with that lard-tub," Li-Anne growled, "It's bad enough that my boat stinks like a bonfire, but I swear on Gol D. Roger's grave if I have to hear you try and fail to put on another Doskoi Panda shirt without it rippin' at the seams, I will _murder_ you Hari."

Li-Anne held up the pathetic remains of three other shirts; "What did you steal this shit for again? For cryin' out loud, your room is across the hall and I could still catch the stiches poppin'! Some people are trying to sleep at five in the mornin', unlike you Doskoi Panda-nabbin' early-bird _freaks_!"

The woman rasped unintelligibly about cheap, mass produced clothing as she stomped her way across the hall back to bed. Hari salvaged what remained of the shirt she was currently wearing, and made herself a light breakfast in Junky's kitchen. She nibbled on sliced fruit on the deck, watching the pastel tones of the sunrise.

Scrubbing her hands together to remove some sticky fruit juice, she stretched and murmured to herself: "Right, clothes time."

She slid the lid from the top of the memory box in her room and took out a handful Belis; she hoped that it could buy her some affordable, sturdy clothes. A quick look at the clock however, told Hari that it was still far too early for any shops to be open, so she waited on the deck for a few more hours.

Not an awful lot happened that was interesting, she noted, having snaffled Li-Anne's pair of kiddy-binoculars to peruse the local scenery. A small fishing boat made its way offshore, a large ship with a navy coloured 'M' could be spotted in the distance, and Lucien had been stood on the beach for about ten minutes now; staring at both her and the large ship in the distance.

Hari chose then to retreat below deck to hide from the man until it was an appropriate time to go shopping. Li-Anne was still snoring away when Hari emerged; the sun high enough to cast lengthy shadows on the dappled pastel ground. The beach was vacant, Lucien having disappeared. Hari breathed a sigh of relief. She tied her sewing kit to her belt, and placed the folded wad of Beli's inside it. The pom-pom charm attached to the flap jangled as she patted the side of the kit reassuringly.

When Hari found a suitable store, she set to work trailing through the stacks of clothes and hanging rails. She took the items she wanted to the store's clerk, paid and inquired whether she could use their changing room.

Sometime later, Hari slid back the lock on the changing room door; happy with her appearance. Her ripped Doskoi Panda shirt had been replaced with what the clerk called a 'baseball tee'- whatever than meant, Hari wasn't sure, but the main body of the shirt remained white while the sleeves and collar were a faded magenta pink. The gaudy trousers she had been wearing were swapped for denim bell-shaped shorts and horizontally stripped green and purple leggings. Pink sneakers- the only items from Doskoi Panda that hadn't disintegrated so far unlike the strappy sandals, remained on her feet; Hari having forgotten she had nabbed the pair, and that she could have used the cheap pair of shoe's laces to make her necklace instead of the one's on her own pair. Hari had taken a strip from the torn green shirt she had been wearing and wrapped it around her head underneath the bulk of her hair. She tied it with a chunky knot on the top of her head, and smoothed out her full fringe.

"Not too shabby," she muttered, catching her new appearance in a nearby mirror.

She made sure to dump her old clothes responsibly in a bin outside of the clothing store. Li-Anne was right; she didn't know why she had bothered to steal the clothes from Doskoi Panda. Probably because they weren't worth buying in the first place.

* * *

Carnation's morning had been anything but successful. She had flounced away from dinner and spent the night in her room, hungry and alone. Cana had slept fitfully; her gurgling tummy and swirling thoughts keeping her wide awake. She knew she had no reason to be jealous or fearful, so why had Lucien been so attached to one of the travellers- the brunette one?

Was not Cana also brunette?

Was she not better than some lowly piece of drift wood that had drawn up on shore?

Surely she was! She needed to know, needed affirmation. Lucien had always been so attentive, and Cana knew she was lucky to have gained the affections of a man ten years her senior. He had caught her during the midst of an idea upon his arrival to Pastello, and they had begun to talk.

She had been fourteen at the time, but as she grew older and more familiar with him, the more she grew to like and became conscious of the fact that he was a 'Man'. Someone she as a woman could definitely appreciate. Perhaps it was silly of her, at sixteen, to presume that he would be the love of her life- but Lucien had been the one to pursue her, to open her eyes to this wonderment called 'love'. She trusted him, had bared her heart to him, but she couldn't open her mind.

Carnation, daughter of Coquelicot and Darling, hadn't invented a single thing since Lucien had called her his own and stole the most precious of kisses. Her first. It was a piece of fiction, a fairy tale made flesh, but Cana had been cursed by that man's lips.

Lucien was growing desperate.

He was fascinated by how the natives of Pastello Island could intuitively create something with there are hands and limited materials. It was as though they did it unconsciously, like a switch being flipped in their head that told them not to _think,_ but instead _do._ He wondered how much the World Government would be able to achieve with a team of intuitive creators on their side. Total domination? Complete control of the masses? Perhaps the total eradication of those who chose to abandon the law?

Lucien had noticed Cana; he wormed his way closer, hoping to befriend the girl and learn the secret to Pastello Island's success. The Chieftain was loathe to trade outside of the islands bounds; inventions made by the natives were one of a kind and not easily replicated- the intuition did not stretch to comprehension, only a desire to build- no matter if the creation was unstable or successful.

The girl falling in love with him had been an unwanted, yet useful coincidence. Young and in love, Carnation had been easy to manipulate. He drew closer to her, as she spilt secrets from her pouting lips like a flowing stream. His superiors told him to exploit her attachment; perhaps in a few years she would fall for his charm even further, and he would be blessed with a child he could deliver to the World Government- as the skills of those native to the island only passed down to their children raised on Pastello.

Coquelicot had been another unwanted obstruction. Lucien's plan to pursue Cana had not had the desired effect on the Chieftain, who had seen through it as a ploy but would not reveal the truth to his daughter, in fear of breaking her heart.

It was foolish, Lucien thought as he threw a stone at the glass door of Cana's balcony; had he done so, perhaps Lucien could have bowed out and labelled his attempts a failure to his superiors. Having events escalate so far meant there was no turning back now. He was to take the girl away today on the ship, failure was not an option after two years of scheming. To fail would be to disgrace himself.

Cana's heart lurched when she heard the first stone connect with the glass door. When the second one made contact, she flew out of bed and whipped open the door like a woman possessed.

"Lucien!" She cried breathlessly, hanging over the wrought iron railings of the balcony.

"Cana," the man purred, backlit by the early morning light. "Come down, my darrrrrling."

Cana clutched a hand in the skirt of her long white nightdress; "But I'm not decent…"

"I missed you, Cana. I do not carrre what you arrrre wearrrring," Lucien's throat warbled uncertainly, as though it were to rebel against his falsity, "You will always be beautiful to me, even if you werrrre to wearrrrr potato sacks forrr eterrrrnity."

Cana's eyebrows raised sceptically at the analogy, though her face flushed at his compliment. Her hands released the scrunched silky material, and smoothed out the frilly edged skirt.

Lucien was still waxing poetic; "I fearrrrr I cannot live without you by my side, afterrrr trrrying to distance myself frrrrrom you- because you arrrrre so young still, but I am afrrrraid I cannot do that any longerrrr."

Though that did explain Lucien's recent strange behaviour, his desire to be apart from her and looking for her in another woman's features- like the brunette riff-raff traveller, Cana wasn't entirely sure what his not being able to live without her meant. Was is purely romantic gesture? Did it affect his health? She decided to ask:

"What do you mean?" Cana leant forward over the balcony railings.

"Rrrrrrun away with me, Cana. Yourrrr fatherrrr is trrrying to keep us aparrrrt- and I cannot live without you," Lucien extended his arms beckoning her, and looking slightly green in the face; "Rrrrrun away with me, and I will take you as my wife; my one and only."

Cana felt her mouth drop open and tears pull to her eyes. "Oh Lucien…"

She bit her lip and shook her head. Though she did not always gel with her father in recent times, she was still expected to be his successor in the near future- and lead Pastello Island in his stead. "What about my parents?"

"We can always come back and visit, my love," Lucien shrugged and Cana caved.

"Okay then." She threw her legs over the railings and fell into his waiting arms.

* * *

Hari took a gentle stroll back to the harbour, appreciating her new clothes. The denim shorts had little yellow pom-poms sewn onto the hems on at the legs. They jiggled as she walked, and tickled her legs through her stockings.

Smiling so widely that she was forced to close her eyes in unadulterated happiness, Hari approached Junky in the hopes of simply climbing aboard. What she discovered on opening her eyes again made her stop and think again.

Li-Anne sweating bullets near the head of her ship as she stared at a Marine vessel wasn't what Hari expected. The elder woman clocked Hari standing on the sand, and her expression promised pain. With a wince, Hari scrambled aboard.

"Why didn't you tell me there was a Marine ship in the area!" Li-Anne hissed, grabbing the front of Hari's new t-shirt so she could closely intimidate the younger woman.

"In my defence, I didn't know it was a Marine ship, and it was a long way off from here- also, _you_ were asleep. I didn't dare wake you after the DP-incident."

Li-Anne seemed to take this into consideration, cocking her head to one side. The seams of Doskoi Panda clothing ripping had made her plenty angry.

"Your binoculars were that shitty I could only make out the giant seagull shape on the side of the ship anyway," Hari continued, and Li-Anne's eye twitched in irritation.

"Well even if they are shitty, go fetch 'em and keep an eye on everythin' while I go and dress," Li-Anne snarled.

Sighing Hari brought the binoculars and altered their intensity to her own eyes. The Marine ship had a few officers walking around on deck. Li-Anne, now appropriately attired, tugged on Hari's arm:

"What's goin' on out there?"

"See for yourself," Hari handed her the binoculars. "None of them look like they're in charge, so I don't know where their senior officer is."

"I'm impressed," Li-Anne drawled, "You're right though; I can't see a big wig in a coat out there. There's no-one on the beach either- wait, I spoke too soon."

" _Oh!_ Let me see! Let me see!" Hari cried. When the binoculars were offered to her, she took one glance and gasped.

Li-Anne smirked, "See, this is why I told you never to trust a man who purrs."

Cana thought this was all very romantic, being carried through the quiet streets of Pastello Island in her nightdress, cradled in Lucien's arms.

The man in question was grim faced, and his features hardened further as his feet hit the beach and spotted the Marine ship docked adjacent to the two travellers' own vessel. Those on the deck of the Marine ship brightened and began to call him home when he and Cana were spotted.

"Lucien…" Cana whispered, "How do those men know you?"

"Ah… they arrrrrre old acquaintances," he uttered back, and tightened his hold on her body. He had come this far, and Mariejois be damned if he threw it all away.

"Are they going to take us elsewhere- is that why you asked me to come with you?" Cana insisted.

"Not entirrrrrely," Lucien began, irritation rising.

"Oh, so you were just going to leave and not tell me then?" Cana fumed, she struggled out of his hold and dropped to the sand. "Do you love me so little?"

The tether of Lucien's temper snapped; "Yes, I despise you little girrrrl. But you arrrrre necessarrrrry forrrr my success, and I will not fail because of you!"

Shocked, Carnation trembled. He roughly grabbed her arm and began to drag the teen towards the Marine ship.

"Well, what do you know," Lucien halted, gritting his teeth in anger. "Apparently there are people stupid enough to carry out kidnapping attempts in broad daylight."

"You…" Lucien ground.

"Me," Hari pointed to the printed emblem on her baseball tee- coincidently, a pair of scissors and the caption: 'Snip', which meant she just definitely had to buy it.

Lucien wrapped an arm around Cana's waist and cinched her closer. "Would you please move, we'rrrrre late to leave the island. Cana has agrrrrreeed to marrrrrrrrrrrrrry me."

Hidden slightly behind the man and starting to realise she may have made a colossal mistake; Carnation shook her head frantically. Hari caught the girl's eyes and smiled.

"Your blushing bride doesn't seem so sure about taking wedding vows, and you haven't even invited her family to attend the ceremony- let alone told anyone you're leaving via Marine ship. Shocking, I thought you'd allow Darling to come at least." Hari's eyes widened; "Li-Anne? Why don't you go and fetch the mother of the bride?"

"On it!" Li-Anne grinned devilishly.

"Yourrrr efforrrrts to detain me arrre valiant, but I'm afrrrraid this is werrre yourrrr endeavourrrr ends," Lucien purred.

"Seriously, have you got a problem or something?" Hari asked. "All of the rolled R's are a bit distracting…"

Lucien snarled; "You die: now!"

He withdrew a gun from his billowing shirt sleeves and sent a shot Hari's way. She dived to the floor on hearing the gun fire, and having dodged a bullet (quite literally) spat sand from her mouth unattractively.

"For fu-" Hari looked at Cana unsurely, "-forks sake, you could have taken my head off with that!"

"That was the plan," Lucien muttered. One Marine had descended from the ship. As he drew closer, Lucien threw Carnation to him. The girl stumbled and fell. "Take herrrr to the ship."

"Sir?"

"Take herrrrr to the ship and do not interrrrrferrrre- no matterrrr what happens next. I will join you shorrrrtly."

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

Hari watched as the Marine led Carnation away, though the girl tried pitifully to escape; kicking out her legs and attempting to bite the officer with her dainty teeth. Hari then turned her apprehensive gaze to Lucien:

"I am Marrrrrine Commodorrrrre Lucien, stationed at the entrrrrrance of Grrrrrand Line. I will not fail my assignment herrrre, not afterrrr these two long yearrrrrs of torrrture- not even to keep frrrrrom marrrring yourrrr prrrrrety face." Lucien pulled a throwing knife from his shirtsleeves and wrapped his fingers firmly around the handle. The hand holding the gun ran across the top of his head, smoothing the slicked black hair and dangerously posturing the gun.

Alarmed, as Lucien was now holding two weapons which could be used against her at any given time, Hari grimaced. Her mind raced over how she could possibly defend herself; hands patting her sides nervously. She stilled as her fingers glanced against her sewing kit.

Discreetly, she dipped her hand inside and withdrew a small sewing needle from the pin cushion in the bag; a needle which she had used only when customers requested items made of leather. It's curved shape pierced through the fabric effortlessly, and was handy when she reached awkward shaped seams. The strangest feeling washed over Hari; a torrid of excitement and restless energy. It was as though a switch had been flipped, a button pressed, or a candle lit. Like a captured bird in a cage released after so long and soaring high- no, higher than thought possible. Hari embraced it. The needle clutched by her fingertips grew exponentially in size.

"I thank you for the compliment, I've never been considered pretty before," Hari bravely told Lucien, her knees knocking from the barest amount of fear. "But I cannot let you take her away so selfishly. Not without good reason."

"The technology of Pastello Island could save countless lives- I _must_ complete the task given to me by my superrrriors. Who arrrrre you to stop me!" Lucien growled.

"I am Hari. I think I might be a pirate- not sure, but I _might_ be. I'm afraid I'm going to kick your arse if you're only going to hurt Carnation," her eyes narrowed, and she tightened her grip on the enlarged needle which was roughly the size and shape of a cutlass. Lucien smirked, and readied himself to attack. "I may not like the brat, and she also dislikes me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let her be ripped away from everyone she loves and get her heart broken by _you_ of all people!"

"CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRNAAAAAAAAAAAAAATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNN!"

Chieftain Coquelicot careered past the two about to duel towards the Marine ship. Hari and Lucien stared at him numbly as he tore through the layers of the ship in search of his daughter.

"Oh my," Darling stuttered, clasping her hands sweetly, "Did we interrupt something?"

Lucien ground his teeth as Li-Anne waved to Hari: "I brought them!"

"… So I see," Hari replied dazedly. The Chief, having battled his way through Lucien's men, brought Carnation back down to the beach. He ushered the girl towards her mother and Li-Anne, glancing venomously at Lucien. Carnation's hand was clamped in her fathers, and he tightly squeezed back in tentative reassurance.

"It matterrrrs not," Lucien purred, his eyes sparking dangerously, "If you have brrrrought them orrr if that fool has managed to rrrrrescue herrrr. Nothing will stand in the way of my duty to the Worrrrrld Goverrrrnment and Absolute Justice. I'll slaughterrrrr you all on the sand and simply pluck herrr frrrrrrom yourrr dead fingerrrrrrrs!"

He flung his knife at Hari's forehead. With only split seconds to spare, Hari managed to drag the cutlass needle in front of her, blocking the knife's path. It connected with her blade with an almighty clang and bounced away onto the sand uselessly. Now, only the gun remained in Lucien's hand, and he yowled, cocking it before him and straight at Hari's heart.

Hari began to panic as the needle began to shrink- this time to the length of a standard crochet hook, nearly six inches long. She bounded into action, her plan obscure.

Hari was a tailor. She was the _daughter_ of a master tailor from a long line of those who had been in the same business, and she had been making clothes for people since her father judged her stitches and pattern following perfect. Nothing less would have appeased Argyle, who's skill, knowledge and customer service were impeccable.

Sand kicked up under her feet as she began to sprint across the short distance between her and Lucien. The Commander's finger tightened on the trigger, ready to shoot.

"Kick his arse!" Li-Anne bellowed; the others stood with her looking grave. Carnation buried her head in the patterned shirt on her father's chest; unshed tears of unadulterated anger and hurt pooling in her eyes. Coquelicot grasped the girl's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He would have liked to have forced her to watch- to see the man who had fooled her heart taken down. But he could not do it. His Little Flower was in pain, and this was one of the ways he could help her through heartbreak.

Hari knew the human body extensively; she had to know in order to understand how clothes could make a person. Argyle had given her anatomical lessons and biology textbooks since she was little; she could gauge a person's fitting without a tape measure- her eyes being the only precise form of measurement she needed, since the age of seven. So she knew the body; knew every singly last nook and cranny.

Including the pressure points.

A sharp bang sounded as Lucien fired the gun, but Hari was now close enough to see his intention and manoeuvre out of the way before his fingers fully wrapped around the trigger. The needle jabbed into the pressure point on his neck with utmost accuracy.

Lucien, the purring Marine Commodore, stationed at the entrance of Grand Line and under orders to obtain the secrets of Pastello Island… dropped out like a light.

* * *

"Is it just me," Li-Anne said as she spun her new toy in the air, "Or did that fight seem really anticlimactic, Kiddo."

They had been waiting for the remainder of the day after the fight that morning for their Log Pose to set, and had invited the Chieftain and his family on-board Junky until it was time to leave.

None of the fellow islanders had noticed the scuffle, and the family agreed to keep it under lock and keep, to prevent an uproar. Lucien's men had scraped their Commodore off of the beach and scarpered. Carnation was hurting, but it was nothing that she couldn't handle after her heart healed in time. One's first love was always the most difficult to move away from, and hers had been much more of a dramatic turn-out than in general.

Darling admitted to tinkering with Hari's sewing kit; her sewing and knitting needles, crochet hooks, pins, cotton reels, ribbons and balls of yarn (all of which were crammed inside the small sewing kit, which had an admittedly larger interior) were now lethal. They responded to her intent, of all things: so if Hari willed the items to become weapons, they would do their best to aid her. Similarly, if she wished to disarm herself or lost confidence in her attack like with Lucien earlier, the weapons would shrink to their original scale. This epiphany had led to Li-Anne also receiving a weapon from Pastello Islands chief deterrent creator, Darling.

Watching Li-Anne spin the giant pink mallet- disproportionately bigger than the older woman, Hari smiled; "I thought so too, but then again, would you rather it have dragged on and ended up with more serious injuries?"

"Scarily pragmatic," Li-Anne mumbled. "How long do you think it'll be now, Lin-Lin?"

Darling looked up from where she was painting on a black piece of fabric, "It shouldn't be too long now, Annie. They'll be finished by the time the Log Pose fully sets."

Chieftain Coquelicot had taken one look at his daughter when Li-Anne announced that Junky's gearbox was damaged, and disappeared below deck. Cana had raced off to their home; when she returned, she was carrying all sorts of materials, odd pieces of metal, and Coquelicot 's tool kit. She had looped a large bundle of electrical wire around her body.

There was one way the family could repay Hari and Li-Anne, and it was in the true Pastello Island fashion.

"That should do it," the Chief said, scrubbing his hands clean on an oily rag. Carnation descended from where she had been tampering above the masts. "The gear box was salvageable, but the power source you'd been using was, well, I don't know how to explain it. We've changed it anyway."

"Mm," Cana pointed to above the sails, where turbines could be seen whirring around already, "See those? They should now power the rechargeable battery in the ship, I think?"

"You 'think'?" Li-Anne bit.

"We're good at this kind of thing," Coquelicot shrugged, "But hell if we understand what we're doing."

Filled with all sorts of confidence, Li-Anne and Hair waved goodbye to the family. Darling handed Li-Anne the folded piece of black fabric she had been toying with before. She set it down on the deck as she reversed Junky out of the harbour, the new and improved motor humming brightly in the water.

"What's that?" Hari asked, picking up the bundle. She unfolded it, and laughed; "It looks like Darling wants us to go down the Piracy route then."

On the fabric, painted in clean white paint, was a skull. Behind it, lay a needle and a mallet- forming the crossbones. Snaking around them and the skull were vines; blossoms bloomed at certain intervals on the thorny loops. It was their own Jolly Roger, and it deserved pride of place at the top of the mast.

"Why don't you raise it, Captain?" Li-Anne intoned smoothly.

"Captain?!"

"Well, I'm already the Navigator, and the ship's Mechanic. I cook too, so I'm also the Chef. I've got too many roles already, and you've proved you can handle yourself in a fight… so why should I be the Captain as well?" Li-Anne didn't look at Hari as she said this; the tips of her ears were read.

"Li-Anne…" Hari's bottom lip wobbled, overcome by Li-Anne's brisk kindness.

"Raise the Raftel-damned flag already!" Li-Anne demanded.

The Log Pose had already begun to pull them towards another Island; as a result, Li-Anne let Junky drift in the steady current. She joined Hari in looking upwards, staring at their newly minted Jolly Roger.

"What do you suppose the flowers are for?" Hari wondered.

"Who knows," Li-Anne nodded indifferently.

They stared for a few minutes longer. Hari toyed with the key around her neck: "I'm a Pirate now, not just a tailor from Logue Town. There's no going back now is there?"

The new flag danced- whipped by the sea breeze. Li-Anne shook her head and smiled grimly. Hari brought the rest of the keys from her memory box and lobbed them off of the side of the ship; though she kept the front door key strung on a shoe lace round her neck. It was time to move forwards, after all.

* * *

 _"_ _Regrets collect like old friends  
Here to relive your darkest moments  
I can see no way, I can see no way  
And all of the ghouls come out to play_

 _And every demon wants his pound of flesh  
But I like to keep some things to myself  
I like to keep my issues drawn  
It's always darkest before the dawn […]"_

 _– '_ _Shake it Out', Florence + the Machine_

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!" – Arc One [END]**

* * *

 **Arc One – Musical inspiration:**

* * *

"Shake it Out" – Florence + the Machine, 'Ceremonials'

"I couldn't care less" – Leslie Clio, 'Gladys'

"Arsonist's Lullaby" – Hozier, 'Hozier'

"Prologue" – Two Steps from Hell, 'Colin Frake On Fire Mountain'

"Starfall" – Two Steps from Hell, 'Classics, Vol. 2'

"I'm Becoming the King of Pirates" – Kohei Tanaka and Shiro Hamaguchi, 'One Piece: Original Soundtrack'

"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" – Nico Vega, 'Lead to Light'

"Luffy's Sorrow" – Kohei Tanaka and Shiro Hamaguchi 'One Piece: Original Soundtrack'

"Snowy" – Toby 'Radiation' Fox, 'UnderTale: Soundtrack'

"Ura omote Lovers" – Wowaka, feat. Hastune Miku

"Housewife Radio" – GHOST, feat. GUMi English

"Killer Lady" – Hachioji-P, feat. GUMi

* * *

 **Author's Trivia:**

* * *

1\. I had a really good idea for a heroine who used household haberdashery as weaponry- hence Hari was born in my mind. 'One Piece' was of course the only irrational world she could be dropped in to; seeing as a woman wielding giant needles and balls of wool wouldn't be strange at all on Grand Line.

2\. Hari translates to 'Needle' in Japanese. The degree of my Google Translate prowess is amazing, I swear.

3\. Argyle, Hari's father, liked wearing Argyle sweaters (bet you didn't see that coming, eh?). He also liked thick knitted socks in the same style.

4\. Pat is disturbing, and I have no idea where the idea for his character came from… this story needed a weakling antagonist to begin with and to kick-start proceedings, but hell, he makes me _cringe_!

5\. "Doskoi Panda" is a clothing brand within 'One Piece', but "Heart Kreuz" belongs (that I know of,) in both Hiro Mashima's 'Rave Master' and 'Fairy Tail'.

6\. Junk ships originate from China and were used as early as the 2nd century (AD, that is). I decided to name Li-Anne's ship 'Junky' because for one she looks like a child: why not have the same imaginative streak that causes children to name things by their, well, name? Plus, Junky's cute. Junky has a six-speed gear box like many modern luxury cars; don't ask me how that works on a ship, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it powers the propeller. Li-Anne had a bit of a tinker with mechanics during her tour of the Blues and installed one. It certainly made her life easier.

7\. The "felt tip pens" curse came from an advert I saw in the cinema when I went to see 'Suicide Squad'. It made me giggle, and I knew I could recycle it somehow- perhaps making it a thing for Hari to censure herself.

8\. My cat Mia helped to me to write these first three chapters, by curling up beside me as I typed, sitting all over the plot and character notes I'd made, and chewing the jack plug of my headphones. Very encouraging, don't you think?

9\. In my head, Lucien resembles a young, if slightly rougher looking, Antonio Banderas- with long hair.

10\. My knowledge of One Piece has gotten iffy over the last few years; I read through everything one day a few years back (around the when Marineford Arc came out- I distinctly remember that it was raining when you-know-what happened to a certain fiery someone, and it really upset me reading that chapter…), and then just stopped. Big mistake. Now I need to re-cap from the beginning and have literally no time to do so. I'm getting by with 'Pom-Pom Pom!' because it doesn't follow cannon until later chapters.

11\. According to Word, the total writing time of this document is a whopping **76 hours** spread over two weeks of me slowly chipping away at my sanity. This is excluding the time taken to proofread and edit. Not bad, considering the only time I deem perfect enough to write is in the small hours of the early morning; which is unfortunate, because I also enjoy sleeping. **Your own random stalker** agreed to Beta for me, and I have to say they've done a stellar job! I can't thank them enough. The next Arc should be Beta-d and ready to be posted around Christmas time, but meanwhile if you have any suggestions for Omake or short filler tidbits you want to read, why not leave me a plot prompt in a review? I do so love reviews...

12\. The Tumblr account for my work and this story is now up and running. Be sure to check my Bio for a link, as there will be teasers, artwork, GIF sets and so forth to peruse. There will also be a link to the full playlist (See Above) on YouTube, which you can find on my Bio and Tumblr also.

13\. Mia, when not helping me procrastinate, discovered a love for plastic wallets- the one's you keep important documents in, oh, y'know, like 'Pom-Pom Pom!' planning documents, drawings, character profiles and the like… They've all got puncture wounds now.

* * *

 **Character Profiles:**

 **(In order of appearance…)**

* * *

 **Hari**

Age 19, daughter of Argyle. Now the Captain of Junky, Li-Anne's Junk ship, though remains an extremely good seamstress and tailor.

 **Pat**

Age unknown, manager of the new Doskoi Panda store in Logue Town. Suspected Arsonist.

 **Argyle**

Hari's father and the establisher of Argyle's Boutique and Haberdashery. Deceased three years before the start of 'Pom-Pom Pom!'

 **Li-Anne**

Age 32, background currently unknown. Navigator, Mechanic and Chef of Junky.

 **Chieftain Coquelicot**

Middle aged, Chieftain of Pastello Island. 'Coquelicot ' is a shade of red, and originally the vernacular French name for wild red corn poppies. Say it with me now: "Coke-lee-ko'.

 **Carnation 'Cana'**

Age 16, daughter of Coquelicot and Darling. Supposedly in love with Lucien. From the top of my memory, most associations with 'Carnation' in flower language is good; usually dealing with affection, love, and luck.

 **Miriam**

Age unknown, runs a bar on Pastello Island. Was the one to invent a self- temperature-regulating tray for drinks.

 **Lucien**

Age 26, Marine Commodore Lucien stationed at the entrance of Grand Line. Does some shady stuff in the name of Justice. His other titles include 'Skirt chaser' and he may or may not have a thing for Doskoi Panda clothing which spangles.

 **Darling**

Middle aged, wife of Coquelicot and mother of Carnation. Darling is the chief weaponry inventor, and created most of Pastello Islands defence mechanisms.


	4. Episode 4

**DISCLAIMER** : All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.

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 **HUGE** **thanks to** _Your own random stalker_ **for Beta-ing for me again. We've both been bogged under with work recently, so the two remaining chapters in this Arc may not be released soon as they are yet to be edited. However, I couldn't in good conscience leave Episode Four to rot in my Doc Manager before the year was out, so here we are. Merry Christmas, and here's my (early) gift to you!  
**

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 **Why not check my Tumblr blog for more behind the scenes posts, artwork, and sneak-peaks about this new story, and even some of my other works on Fan Fiction and A03? You'll find me as** yuilhan-from-ff. tumblr. com **on that particular site!**

* * *

" **Pom-Pom Pom!"**

* * *

 **Arc Two:** 'Friend or Foe?'

* * *

 _Episode 4. The Marigolds are Ravaged! Welcome to the Crew!_

* * *

Morning had broken over Isola Giungla, one of the few isles on Grand Line that kept somewhat regular seasons and weather patterns. Currently in the cycle of four seasons, Isola Giungla was in the midst of summer; and Hideki Inoue was most grateful for this.

He would rise with the early summer sun, just as dawn cracked over the dense canopy of the trees, and made his way from his family home to the gardens. Before his mother, and more importantly his father and brother rose, he would spend his time tending to the allotment and the planted flowers at the bottom of the garden. The only part his father would allow him to maintain himself, the part that his mother had begged to be given to Hideki one day, when his father had been in a rare good mood. It was a treasured sanctuary for the teen.

"Sometimes, Elena," His father grouched over breakfast, the paper from the News Coo having just arrived and a slightly muddy Hideki along with it, "I wonder if that boy is even mine."

Elena said nothing, but did cast a saddened look at her first-born son as he seated himself at the kitchen table; it was far too small for him, and Hideki struggled with great difficulty to tuck his knees underneath the table top. The boy was certainly Taichi Inoue's son. Elena had never been unfaithful in the years they had been married, or during the time Taichi had courted her. Not once had she looked at another man in the same way she had her husband, and if not for her two wonderful children, she couldn't firmly say that she would never thought about finding someone else. Someone _better._

 _'Does he make you happy?'_ her mother had asked her when Taichi slid a ring on Elena's finger. He had, at the time. After nearly twenty-five years together, Elena was no longer sure that he could make her happy though. It certainly didn't fill her with joy when he took to berating Hideki, and proudly spurred on their second-born son to do the same. It didn't make her happy when Jun took precedence over Hideki as next in line to run the family business- and it certainly didn't make her happy that she'd been wearing the same spotted apron to cook and bake in for the last five years. She never did get round to buying or making a new one, and the time and funds she could spare were eventually sucked back into the Den Den Mushi business her husband ran. Or by running round caring for her family.

She placed a plate in front of Hideki- who nearly elbowed his father in the face just to try and reach his cutlery, and smiled softly at the boy: "How was the garden this morning, my little runner bean?"

Taichi's lip curled, as did the newspaper in his hairy hands. Jun shovelled some more of his breakfast down his gullet to keep himself from laughing.

"… The marigolds…" Hideki intoned, his monotonous lisping voice whispering into existence, "… they are ravaged."

"Oh sweet pea, I'm sorry to hear that," Elena told him truthfully. Hideki was a gentle soul- a gentle giant too, if you took into account how tall the boy was. Perhaps that was why Taichi questioned her fidelity; apart from Hideki, their family consisted of those within average height whom were slightly portly. It was only Hideki who pushed nearly nine feet tall and was a thin as a stick. If Elena was not relieved that her first-born son ate regular meals, she would be worried with how spindly he looked.

"Well I for one am not," Taichi groused, "You need to stop your girlish habits and become a proper man. I'm the laughing stock of all the traders, I am! See, this is why your brother is next to inherit and not you- the _firstborn_ who _should_ be the one to do it." Taichi was now red in the face and puffing, "But instead you've passed on all of the responsibility to your brother, while you go frolicking round meadows and hugging trees!"

Hideki's knuckles had turned a deathly shade of white from how fiercely he'd clenched his fists.

Elena held her breath.

Jun kept eating.

* * *

"Are we nearly there yet?" Hari called impishly, trimming something overly fluffy with the scissors she kept in her sewing kit.

"Oh, here, let me see," Li-Anne said snidely from Junky's wheel, "Hm... _No!"_

"Don't be mean to your Captain, Li-Anne," Hari reprimanded, pointed to their new Jolly Roger. It was something they both looked up at each day with equal parts excitement and dread, as though their declaring Piracy were not quite real- and also as if they knew bearing such a flag would bring them a steaming heap of trouble in the future.

Li-Anne grit her teeth; "If I knew makin' you Captain would also make you unbearable, I wouldn't have done it. I'm still regrettin' my decision of not throwin' you overboard after Reverse Mountain after seein' what a limp noodle you were."

The pair had set sail from Pastello Island and raised their Jolly Roger nearly three weeks ago, and while their sailing had so far been unhindered, their provisions were well-stocked and the dynamics between Hari and Li-Anne hadn't changed at all, things were becoming a little… strained.

Hari was weary from waking up each morning to find they were still sailing through endless open blue, whether it be sky or ocean. It seemed suspiciously like they had drifted into the Calm Belt, but a distinct lack of Sea Kings quelled that idea; it was just calmly torturous Grand Line weather conditions. When Li-Anne had drudged a frilly blue dress out of her closet, Hari had become decidedly queasy. She spent her afternoon below deck, amongst the crates of non-perishable provisions that were more likely to be normal earthy colours, and _not blue._ With conditions being so good, there was little wind to turn the turbines and power Junky's motor. Li-Anne was saving what little energy remained in case of an emergency.

"But I'm bored! I've gone beyond antsy- I'm _bored_ and I want to feel dirt under my feet again!" Hari whined, stringing multiple pink pom-poms (which she had been trimming down to size earlier) onto an almost invisible thread. She picked through one bag of assorted buttons and fixings in her sewing kit until she found a suitable clasp; tying the clear thread securely to each piece of the fixing.

"'Antsy' my arse," Li-Anne grumbled, voice smoky. She near choked when Hari looped the threaded pom-poms around her neck and clipped the two fixings together. "What in Roger's name is this?"

"A necklace?" Hari replied, cutely cocking her head to one side. Her neatly cut hair bobbed as her chin tilted.

Li-Anne pulled at one of the pom-poms with her childish fingers: "Normal people make daisy chains; you do know that, right?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Do you see any daisies around here?" Hari snorted. "I'm _bored_ and I'm using what I had to hand. Plus, we match now! Sort of." She gestured to the decorations on the hems of her denim shorts.

"Whoop-dee-do, Kiddo." Li-Anne touched the pom-poms strung around her neck hesitantly, "Say, these aren't goin' to do anythin'… _weird_ are they- say, blow up when I'm sleepin'?"

Hari thought on that, tapping a finger to her chin as she mused; "They shouldn't do. Darling said that somehow the materials are only coded to me because of my fingerprints, and since I'm the only one using them. Just like I wasn't able to lift or use your hammer, you or anyone else won't be able to utilise my own weapons."

"Good to know," and Li-Anne sincerely meant this. After thirty-two years of living, she wasn't about to throw it all away because a necklace detonated while she was caught unawares. Looking to the Log Pose as the needle steadily remained true to their course, and then the sky; which had begun to draw in dark clouds, Li-Anne frowned. "You may want to get on a rain coat or somethin' Kiddo, the heavens are openin'."

Hari dashed below deck, grabbing her rain coat and Li-Anne's waterproof poncho just as the first drops of rain began to fall.

* * *

Thunder cracked over the island, but Hideki's fists had not yet unfurled.

"Taichi…" Elena breathed, "That is enough. You have said enough."

"Do not tell me what is enough woman, I've not even started with the mile-long list of problems I have with my firstborn," Taichi sneered. Hideki swallowed harshly, eyes darkening under the mop of unruly black hair atop his head. "I could go all day-"

Hideki pushed away from the kitchen table, forgetting that his height caused him to fold his legs uncomfortably under it. The table lifted and was flung backwards; it landed on Jun, who yelped as he became trapped under the solid piece of furniture.

"Now look what you've done!" Taichi blustered, and Hideki flinched. "Get out of my house!"

As her first born fled- whacking his head on the small doorframe, and Taichi lifted the table off of Jun, Elena felt silent tears roll down her face. One hit her lip, and she licked at the crystalline track; feeling the bitterness of the salty taste on her tongue.

Each morning since Hideki was old enough to totter round the island unattended and life had turned sour, had played out in exactly the same fashion. Her firstborn son would return from tending to his section of the garden, or from walking around the island in the colder months. He would seat himself for breakfast, the News Coo would arrive, and the bickering would begin. All Elena wanted was a morning not kick-started with a row. She was not asking for much, after all, but it seemed nigh on impossible for her wish to be fulfilled.

Hari and Li-Anne were wishing that for the rest of their journey through Grand Line they wouldn't encounter any more storms, but that would be plain sailing and Paradise's ocean was quixotic in a way that you could only react to- not anticipate.

"Can you not use the motor to get us through this?" Hari yelled over the roar of the tide as she assisted Li-Anne with wrestling with Junky's wheel.

"We can barely go in a straight line as it is," Li-Anne puffed as the wheel tried to twist away from them again, "How would addin' more fuel to fire help?"

One of the sails had been blown loose by a strong gust of wind, and the ship veered off course.

"Go reel that in, Kiddo!" Li-Anne nodded to the flapping loose sail, "I can handle this, but I'm not tall enough to reach the ropes over there-" here she was virtually lifted off of her feet as Hari let go of the wheel "-quickly now!"

Hari grappled with the ropes and the loose sail, repeatedly grilling herself mentally as to why she'd jumped on a pirate ship to begin with. She was drenched through; her hair hung in dark strings against her neck, her clothes more water than fabric, and nothing was worse than soggy stockings. She wished for the ground beneath her feet again, instead of the constant violent rocking of a ship.

"Land ho!" Hari heard Li-Anne scream, and she hurriedly tied the sail down so that she could assist the older woman in steering. "Land ho! Land ho! Oh Mariejois it's finally over!"

Both Li-Anne and Hari burst into spontaneous floods of relieved tears and laughter.

* * *

Hideki walked.

Isola Giungla was not one of Grand Line's biggest islands by far. If one were a bird and flew above and over, the island would look like two individual segments of an orange. One half was sandy and urbanised, the other a deep leafy green. Those who settled on this isle each had different purposes for doing so, yet all of them interlinked. One family arrived because of the jungle's verdant vegetation; it made the perfect place to grow exotic species of plants and crops- the dense jungle's humidity mimicking the original habitat of many of the species. Another family settled because they could use those plants and crops in their medicines, which they then sold on to travellers and obscure areas of Grand Line like those beyond the Calm Belt.

Hideki's family settled because Isola Giungla was the perfect place to cultivate Den-Den Mushi. They- the snails that is, fed off of the unwanted plants in the jungle, protecting the rare species from competition. The translucent trails and parts of the snails could be used for medicinal purposes, or so that particular pharmaceutical family had said when they struck up a contract. The jungle was perfect for the budding Den-Den Mushi, it was so tightly packed that they could remain unseen from the sharp eyes of predators and evade being caught. Low flying branches were the bane of every bird's existence, of course.

The Inoue family had been one of the main suppliers of Den-Den Mushi snails for decades. Other businesses and home-grown snails simply couldn't match the standard of those cultivated on Isola Giungla, and it would be foolish to think otherwise.

However prosperous the Inoue Den-Den Mushi business was, Hideki could not bring himself to be part of the business' proceedings.

He despised snails, took every opportunity he had to discreetly place down pesticide in his garden or accidently tip over the conveniently-missing-from-the-kitchen salt shaker and spread the granules around.

Snails ruined his plants, and were a general plague on nature that had to be stopped at all costs.

The marigolds he'd worked so hard on keeping alive in this tropical climate had been beyond recognition this morning, and he had a fair hunch that his father had employed Jun into letting a Den-Den Mushi in training loose into that particular part of the garden.

Not that he could confront the two about it.

So he walked; beyond the houses and as straight as he could through the thick undergrowth filling the other half of the island. He blended fairly well amongst the trees, something that the other family's children took great amusement in. It couldn't hurt him anymore though- Hideki had heard their taunts for years, falling from his father's mouth easily, his brother copying their parent's example and employing his friends to do the same. His mother would smile with watery eyes and tell him to pay them no mind, but he could tell that she'd had enough of the constant tension in their home.

Hideki couldn't help being tall. It wasn't as though he was a rare fluke in their family; his mother had disclosed her own father had been fairly tall, but she had inherited her mother's genes. The inhabitants of Isola Giungla were all of what they would call 'average height', another thing they took delight in telling the tree-like Hideki.

He exited the dense undergrowth, stopping on the strip of sandy beach to just stop and _breathe._ Rain trickled down his browned skin, and though he shivered Hideki was anything but cold. He dug his bare toes in the sand and tilted his head to the clouds. Wet clumps of his fringe stuck to his cheeks, nose and eyelids.

"Land ho~! Land ho~! Land hoooooooooooo~!" Hideki heard someone trill in a terrible musical key, and quickly sought to find the source of the din. A ship had docked just shy of the shore, and two people (having waded from their ship to beach as there was no dock or jetty on the uninhabited half of the island) were dancing around on the sand.

"I never thought I'd see it again," one said, a brunette woman in a bright yellow rain coat, "Sweet land, how I've missed you!"

The second, a blonde child, collapsed on the beach. "I have to agree with you Kiddo, I nearly thought we were goners for a bit back there."

Hideki watched their enjoyment grow, as the brunette danced on the beach and the blonde made sand-angels. But why had the child called the woman 'Kiddo'? And how could a child's voice be so scratchy?

"Oh!" The brunette had spotted Hideki. Instead of balking at his lofty height, she smiled and waved: "Hello there!"

Anxiously, Hideki waved back. The blonde child got to her feet and the pair walked over to him; the brunette dusting off the smaller of the two's back to get rid of all the sand stuck to the child's wet dress. It was futile effort- whatever colour the dress was before it was now a sandy yellow.

"Could you tell us where we are?" The blonde asked, craning her neck to look at him.

Hideki opened his mouth to answer, but closed it shyly. The child- no, appearances could be deceiving, and this was certainly no child despite their looks, had a rasping voice fitting of one who smoked or had reached later than thirty in their life. He pointed to the jungle behind him.

"…That really doesn't answer my question," the not-child blonde muttered.

"Do you mean that you live in those trees?" The brunette prompted, and Hideki flapped his hand- as though to say 'further than that'. "Beyond them?"

Hideki nodded.

"Do you think you could take us there? We need to find out how long it takes for this Log Pose to set," the blonde asked, tapping the reinforced glass globe strapped to her wrist. Hideki surveyed the red and white needle inside it and nodded again.

"Great!" The brunette chirped, "I'm Hari and this is Li-Anne."

"… Hideki…"

"Nice to meet you n' all," Li-Anne drawled, "But could we get a move on? I'd like to get out of the rain."

Hari made an unpleasant keening noise deep in her throat, "I know, I don't remember what dry clothes feel like."

"You did half an hour ago!" Li-Anne responded, stepping into the jungle after Hideki.

"But that was half an hour ago, and I'm all moist now," the woman protested.

Li-Anne snorted; "Don't go tellin' the male population of this island that!"

Hari's ears reddened.

* * *

Hideki knew his father and brother had left for work during his absence, so Hideki lead the two women- because Li-Anne was a fully grown woman, no matter what her appearance led one to believe, to his home and sheepishly helped to right the heavy fallen table that Taichi did not have the strength to overturn. Jun had miraculously escaped the wooden prison, but both his father and brother had left Elena with a kitchen in disarray until Hideki returned with the travellers in tow. Elena had flustered over the three of them, bringing hot mugs filled to the brim with tea and chunky woollen blankets to warm them up. Hideki's mother soon adored the pair of travellers; they were brightly coloured if slightly soggy blocks of surprise in her monotonous life. They were different, and had been pleasant guests so far.

"What exactly are you at the island for? We don't get many visitors unless they come for trade," Hideki's mother was curious, and Hari and Li-Anne shared a uneasy look.

"Actually ma'am," Hari said quietly, "We're Pirates."

Hideki twitched.

Elena blinked. Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' of surprise. Then she fainted.

Li-Anne slurped from her mug of tea, the sound echoing strangely through the small kitchen as Hideki gently pet his mother's shoulder. "Nice work, Hari," she drawled from behind her raised cup.

Elena roused, dazedly thanking her son as he lifted the smaller woman to her feet:

"I had the strangest dream," she murmured to her eldest child, "That you had brought Pirates home when you knew your father has no patience for them."

"… I did," Hideki told her.

"O-ooh…" Elena's face flushed with panic, "Your father will never forgive you for this, Sprout. I have no idea of when he will be home for lunch."

Due to how relatively close the business was to their family home, Taichi and Jun spent their lunch hour at home rather than buying food in town or having Elena pack something for them in the morning. Occasionally, when a large order of Den-Den Mushi were soon to be shipped out or if a new contract was being drawn up, did they eat elsewhere. Every day down to the specific stroke of the clock, would the pair return home. Elena began to sweat.

Hideki mused on this. Beneath the curling strands of his drying bangs his eyes darkened, remembering the incident in the garden this morning. A snail had been deliberately set amongst his potted plants, and the marigolds had fallen prey to the pest. This could work in his favour; this could help break the same old routine and allow him to grow as swiftly as a climbing vine.

"I suppose we got lucky on the last island, we were taken to someone in charge straight away," Li-Anne told the panicking woman.

"We also hadn't raised our Jolly Roger then," Hari reminded Li-Anne, who's lips pursed in agreement.

Elena worried her worn apron strings; "You haven't been…?"

"Pirates for long?" Li-Anne finished, "No, no."

Elena visibly relaxed, so Li-Anne hatched a quick and delicate plan to extract the information she needed before proceedings turned… disastrous. The last thing both she and Hari needed was an irate husband returning home and flying into a mad rage after discovering his wife hosting Pirates of all things. It also appeared that Hideki was presently on thin ice with the family's patriarch, and it would be in the Pirate's interests to leave peacefully and not be the catalyst of a familial domestic.

"Listen, all we need to know is how long the Log Pose takes to set here on…?"

"Isola Giungla," Elena provided.

"Right, Isola Giungla," Li-Anne amended, "We can stay on the ship until it's set and not bother anyone."

Though she looked conflicted, Elena answered; "It takes roughly two hours to set. You've been here for some time already, so I doubt that you have more than three quarters of an hour left to wait."

"How is it so quick?" Hari asked, "The last island we went to took four days for the Log to register before we could move off again."

"This island is mainly visited because of trade," Elena told them calmly, "Ships only need a few hours to load and pay for any outgoing goods, and stock inspections from potential contractors are conducted swiftly. By having the Logs register quickly, more goods reach their buyer's destination sooner. It is good for business, and one of the lesser known reasons why people settled here."

Hari's eyebrows rose; "That seems really handy and all, but I've been on a ship with this one-"

 _"Oi!"_

"-for over three weeks. I'm grateful for any time I get to spend on land, but I can't help but selfishly wish we could remain here longer."

Elena swallowed and looked at the clock ticking on the wall. The hands were drifting far too close to-

"Elena love, we're home." A burly voice grumbled from the doorway. A stout man with extensively styled hair and a pinstriped suit entered the kitchen and planted a kiss by Elena's mouth. He was soon followed by a well-groomed and miniature version of Hideki. "I didn't know you were receiving guests today?"

The man looked at Elena almost accusingly; the woman in question forced a smile on her face.

"You're home early today," Elena tugged at her apron's hem as though trying to hide her body. The binding around the edge was frayed and the white sections of the spotted pattern now a buttery cream colour.

"There wasn't much business, so we finished before we usually do," the man replied with a roll of his eyes, as though his answer should be so obvious to her.

Elena smiled again, but it did not reach her eyes.

"Who are your guests?" The younger of Elena's children enquired, eying the two travellers sat in their places at the kitchen table.

"I'm all of a flap, you coming home early has thrown me off time-wise -I forgot to introduce Hari and Li-Anne to you, and you know it isn't like me to not acquaint you with guests!" Elena covered her nervousness rather clumsily; she rubbed at her forehead with a tired hand. It was true that normally she was a gracious and attentive hostess, but there was nothing normal about this situation. Her husband was eyeing the brightly dressed Hari warily, as though he could smell the stench of Pirate. She caught his glances at Li-Anne, and Elena knew he was finding the woman distasteful from his kindly disguised sneer. "Li-Anne, Hari, this is my husband Taichi, and my second born, Jun. You already know Hideki, of course."

"Lovely to meet you," Taichi said, though he did not sound at all enchanted to be acquainted with the pair. "Where do you hail from then?"

"Oh, I'm originally from Logue Town," Hari told him and the man leant forward with keen interest.

Taichi rubbed the stubble on his chin; "Logue Town, eh? We get some good business with the Marines from there- they like to keep stocked on Den-Den Mushi."

Hari could feel sweat beginning to bead on her forehead. She laughed prettily: "I'm sure they do, I'm sure they do… ah ha ha…"

"And what about you?" Taichi growled at Li-Anne.

The elder woman looked up disinterestedly from her empty mug and answered; "Here, there and everywhere, really."

"I see," Taichi's lip curled. "Might I ask what the pair of you do for a living? It's not safe on Grand Line for only two women, surely you must be here on business with some others?"

"Would anyone like some tea?" Elena blurted. Taichi stared intently at Li-Anne as his wide blustered through niceties; "I baked some cakes just the other day- and they're still fresh! So I could serve them with a fresh pot-"

"Does it look like anyone wants tea, woman!" Taichi barked and Elena flinched.

The woman's lip quivered, yet she answered neutrally to the lit fuse that was her husband; "I suppose not."

"What is it that you two do then?" Taichi asked more forcefully of the two travellers. They were reluctant to answer, but knew if they tried to cobble together a believable story they would come unstuck- just like they had on Pastello Island. The pair shared a knowing glance, respectively thinking back to the last time they tried to come up with a legitimate backstory.

"… Pirates."

"What was that?!" Taichi snarled.

"… I said that they were Pirates…." Hideki intoned. Hari and Li-Anne grimaced.

Taichi's snarl of animalistic rage shocked everyone- even his own family. A slight smile could be seen on Hideki's face; one that Elena had not witnessed since her little runner bean had been a young boy.

"You mean to tell me," Taichi spat, rounding on his wife, "That you've invited _Pirates_ into my home?"

Hideki stretched to his full height, hiding his now trembling mother behind him. Underneath his curling mass of black hair, his eyes noarrowed dangerously.

"… No…. I did," the boy intoned quietly to his father, and felt his mother's hands take fistfuls over the baggy white vets he wore- as though she were bracing herself for what was to inevitably come.

Having not been in the Piracy business for long, Hari had not expected the man's vibrant disgust for the 'P' word. Elena had been right to be nervous; her husband was near vibrating from sheer anger. Taichi's face had flushed an inhuman crimson, his fists clenched and ready to swing like hammers. It was fascinating to see the transformation of someone from almost pleasant to otherworldly irate happen, Hari mused. She couldn't look away from the scene as Taichi's fury descended onto Hideki.

"… And yes, I did invite them…"

"I told you!" Taichi pointed a finger accusingly at his wife; the latter of which's head peaked nervously around her firstborn son's side. "I told you this boy wasn't mine! No son of mine would skip through meadows and pick flowers like a priss! No son of mine would invite _Pirate scum_ into my home!"

Li-Anne was not so surprised by Taichi's behaviour. She had sailed for far longer than Hari, and though she gave the impression she was young, her appearance did not match her experience- she knew very well how the world worked. Li-Anne had met bigots before, those of the exact same brand as Taichi. And she despised them.

Hideki's smile broadened.

"Do you think this is funny?!" Taichi raged, spittle flying from his anger-puckered mouth. A sadistic gleam entered the man's eyes; "I'll show _you_ what's funny!"

Taichi stormed away from the kitchen to outside. Hideki started and followed after his father; soon the rest of the family and the two travellers also spilled from the tiny house and onto the lawn. Reaching the end of the garden where Hideki kept his potted plants and allotment, Taichi took the nearest terracotta plant pot, lifted it above his head, and then flung it to the ground.

The geraniums looked pitiful, slopped on the grass as they were. The planter was not salvageable, having ben cracked in two.

Next went the wooden trellis that held a climbing vine. It was snapped into pieces and was thrown unceremoniously atop the fallen geraniums. One by one, each species in Hideki's garden fell prey to Taichi's vicious intent.

The man began to laugh; pulling vegetables prematurely from the allotment's fertile soil. Hideki sank to his knees, shaking as he watched his father destroy his hard work- his only solace. The screams that filled his head were too much to bear, and his fingers clutched at the baggy fabric of his trousers with a deathly-white grip.

Breath now coming in heavy pants, Taichi wiped his sweaty foreheads on his suit jacket; now muddied from soil and scattered with leaves and petals. He went to grab the last heavy planter- containing Elena's favourite species of flower; a snarling nest of blue roses.

Suddenly, Hideki threw back his head and keened. His dark eyes were wide with unrestrained grief.

From the insanely lanky boy's body shot thorny vines; they rose far above the ground and writhed, intertwining. The vines crackled, the bark and thorns along the stem stretching and gaining size. When full twisted together, the vines resembled something of a giant hand: curling fingers were tipped with thorns, akin to a bird of prey's talons.

The keening stopped, and Taichi stared his first born son directly in the eye. The man panted heavily; the chuffing of his breath escaping his mouth in what seemed to be maniacal bursts of laughter.

"Look at you," he said, his mouth downturned in a grim grin. His eyes flashed nastily, no longer the eyes of a doting father, or a tolerating parent, but the eyes of a raving lunatic beyond any means of help; "Look at what you've become. You and those pieces of filth-" Taichi spat in Li-Anne and Hari's general direction., "-you're nothing but **_freaks_**!"

Taichi grabbed the plant pot containing the blue roses, and Hideki lost all control of himself. As the plant pot fell, the vine-hand he had created lashed out- swatting his father into oblivion. Though the vines were swift and malleable, they could not react fast enough to save the roses; they too, were strewn across the lawn.

Hideki wailed, clutching at the long curling strands of his black hair. Elena rushed forward, rubbing her eldest son on the back. Jun however, rushed to help his father stand.

A gushing flow of blood spewed from Taichi's nose; he wiped it away with his dirty suit jacket, tongue flicking to lick the blood that made contact with his upper lip. Taichi's eyes were hardened flint and trained intently on his eldest son.

"Get out of here…" he rasped, voice colder than ice. "Never show your face here. Ever again."

Elena gasped: "You can't just-"

"If I see you here on this island ever again, whether you are my son or not…" Taichi continued, _"I will kill you."_

Waves of tears spilled from Elena's eyes as Hideki simply nodded, and began to stand. She clutched at his legs.

"You can't, you can't!" She cried. "You can't go! You're my-" Hideki softly removed himself from his mother's hold. The woman sobbed, watching her son blend with the tall jungle trees. His back soon disappeared in the dense undergrowth.

Taichi turned his attention to Li-Anne and Hari, who had watched proceedings play out numbly from the side lines:

"As for the pair of you, I hope you the Grand Line drowns you both!" The man gnashed his teeth together and stormed into the house, his youngest son trailing after him.

Elena lay curled on the ground, hands caressing the fallen soil from the planted roses. Fat tears rolled from her eyes as she sniffled. Hari approached the woman and laid a hand on her shoulder, which Elena promptly shrugged off.

"Are you satisfied?" The woman snarled at them, "You have brought this upon us! It's all your fault."

Perhaps Hari and Li-Anne were to blame. Perhaps they were not.

It was Hideki who had used them as a catalyst in his feud with his father; the revenge he had wanted to exact on him because of the destroyed Marigolds backfiring spectacularly. Hideki had seemed strong enough to defend himself; he had displayed an intent to stop his father's actions, even if the result was more violent than first intended. Elena had also noted her son's strength, and felt perversely proud of him; the anger she felt at having to lose a precious person so suddenly had been directed towards Hari and Li-Anne, and not the actual culprit (whom was currently shoving rolled-up tissue up his nostrils to halt the bleeding).

"Are _you_ satisfied?" Hari asked back cryptically, avoiding Li-Anne's palm before it slapped the back of her head; the older woman believing she spoke insensitively.

A myriad of emotions washed over Elena: confusion, sadness, loss, anger, fondness, and finally a jaw-cracking smile. Soft giggles hiccupped from the woman's mouth, increasing into hysterical guffaws that turned her sad tears to those of mirth.

"I… haaa, I am!" Elena giggled. "I've wanted to hit my husband for- heehee, _years_ ," she told the pair in confidence, laughter still bubbling within her.

"You've ruined- hahaaa, you've ruined everything!" Li-Anne and Hari watched as the woman fell into further hysterical giggles. "You've ruined everything- he he haaaa! And I'm okay with that!"

"Just 'okay'?" Hari said with trepidation, hoping that she came across as cheeky to help ease the hysterical woman on the ground. Hari instead earned herself a disapproving look from Li-Anne, who was not impressed by Hari's attempt at being nonchalant.

"I can't help but feel responsible for all this though," Li-Anne drawled, eyes never leaving the entrance to the house just in case Taichi made another appearance. Her eyes flicked momentarily to her wrist were the Log Pose was strapped; the needle was now spinning, indicating that the Log had registered and it was now time to set sail. "We have to get goin' soon too, so it's not as if we can fix this. The Log's changed."

Elena's giggles subsided; "We're both finally free, but there is one more thing you can do to make up for this mess."

Hari and Li-Anne leant closer, listening intently.

* * *

Hideki looked at the snail happily perched on Hari's shoulder disdainfully.

"-so your mother decided that we should take you with us, considering we're partly responsible for this mess. She gave us a Den-Den Mushi so that you can keep in contact with her; and she wants you to call every week just so she can make sure we're taking care of you."

* * *

"My son is sensitive," Elena had told them. "When he was ten, he took a walk around the island with Taichi. My husband was hoping to take him to work with him that day, but Hideki's has always been more fascinated with nature than anything else. If we didn't keep an eye on him, he'd be lost in the jungle for most of the day or up and flying with the News Coo birds. He'd always turn up for meals though."

"What happened next then, to make them so hostile with one another?" Li-Anne queried. She had a strange hunch that a new crew member and his backstory were going to make her life hellish in the future.

"Well, Taichi grew impatient with Hideki's lack of interest, and told the boy to go and play outside. From what Taichi and Hideki told me, he'd ended up on the beach near where the trading ships dock. Hideki got hungry, and knew there were fruit trees all around the island that people pick from when peckish; he was only doing what was normal and then…"

"And then?" Hari was practically bouncing from the suspense. Li-Anne rubbed her temples, her hunch from earlier somewhat confirmed true.

"Then he ate _that_ cursed thing," Elena told them gravely. "It looked like a piece of normal fruit, so he picked it from the trees. But the taste was foul, and though he tried to spit it out and regurgitate it later, Hideki had devoured the whole thing."

Li-Anne let loose an exasperated huff, "He ate an Akuma no Mi then."

"Yes, it was only when he began talking to the trees and plants and growing things did we truly notice the extent of what happened beyond his usual fixation. We thought that he had only eaten an unripe piece of fruit at first," Elena said solemnly, feeling her eyes mist with tears again.

* * *

"I thought I was only goin' to be supervisin' one child, let alone two," Li-Anne complained as she started Junky's motor.

Hideki had his back resting against the wooden walls of the cabin, warily eyeing the Den-Den Mushi Hari was coddling.

Hari cooed: "I think we should name you Marvin!"

Then transponder snail grinned widely to that. Hari melted at the sight, and nestled the candy-striped snail closer to her chest.

"Roger give me strength," Li-Anne muttered with a shake of her head. She began busying herself with the ship, revving the motor slightly to block out Hari's sickening croons as she fussed over the Den-Den Mushi.

* * *

Hari and Li-Anne stared as Elena mopped at the tears streaming down her face; the woman had yet to stop crying, from either sadness or mirth. Elena's expression had sobered whilst sharing her family's story, Li-Anne and Hari each stilling in order to listen intently.

"But I still don't understand how such a big rift has been formed between them, eating one of those things isn't a crime right?" Hari asked. Elena had gone onto explain that Hideki had ate the Ki-Ki no Mi, a Logia Devil Fruit allowing him to manipulate his own body to match the growing flora around them. A passing trader with an interest in the cursed fruits had confirmed it for them, some years ago.

"Many Marines have tasted cursed fruit- it is where most of their might has been achieved," Elena pontificated, "But many Pirates have also eaten them, which is where my husband has associated the stigma of Akuma no Mi to have originated from. "'Pirate scum who have become freakier', I believe he said once."

Li-Anne scoffed, "So he took Hideki havin' unusual abilities as a sign of him betrayin' the family to become a Pirate."

"Pretty much," Elena confirmed with an awkward rub of the back of her neck.

"Pathetic," Li-Anne derided. "C'mon Hari, we've been here for far too long." The deceptively-portrayed Li-Anne led the way into the jungle undergrowth, stopping when her Captain did not follow straight away. A Den-Den Mushi, just shy of being fully grown, was being pushed into Hari's arms.

"Take this with you please!" Elena begged. "It will come in handy for when you reach further along the Grand Line and serve you well into the New World."

Hari juggled with the snail, feeling some of the slimy substance snails left behind in their wake slosh onto her palms; "I don't _uh_ , Li-Anne! A little help?"

Li-Anne shook her head. Violently.

Hari sighed; "I would be delighted to accept… _this_. But may I ask why it is being gifted?"

"This is one of Taichi's up-and-coming Den-Den Mushi. Young, but has shown promise; he's already got the Home transponder snail's signal down-pat, so new frequencies shouldn't be too difficult. It was supposed to be a reward for a new hot-shot in the Marines for his service, but well, it's going to you now," Elena explained.

"'Home transponder snail'?" Hari echoed.

"The snail in my home, the one that this snail will call on a weekly basis when my son is at sea with the pair of you," Elena said sternly, and her expression promised pain if they didn't care for her son.

Hari looked desperately to Li-Anne, the elder woman smiled thinly over her shoulder; "Sure, what's one more on board?"

* * *

Hideki had begun to look at the snail in a new light, seeing as it would allow him to keep in contact with his mother.

"Welcome to the crew I guess?" Hari said unsurely, both she and Li-Anne watching for his reaction lest he implode into various plants. The transponder snail was certainly still wary around him, after Hideki had tried to use his vines to capture the pest so that he could throw it overboard. Hideki gave the trio an unconvincing grin and a thumbs up that scared them more than it reassured them. Li-Anne was certain that such a face could crack glass, should the scenario so arise.

They left him be after that.


	5. Episode 5

**DISCLAIMER** : All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.

* * *

 **HUGE** **thanks to** _EverlastingProcrastinator_ **(whom you may recall went under '** _Your own random stalker'_ **before) for Beta-ing for me again. Their help is doing wonders for this story, believe me!**

* * *

 **Why not check my Tumblr blog for more behind the scenes posts, artwork, and sneak-peaks about this new story, and even some of my other works on Fan Fiction and A03? You'll find me as** yuilhan-from-ff. tumblr. com **on that particular site!**

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!"**

* * *

 **Arc Two:** 'Friend or Foe?'

* * *

 _Episode 5. Trouble in Paradise! The Kidd Pirates Massacre!_

* * *

Hideki had been sailing with the crew for over a week now, and had become accustomed to their strange dynamics. Li-Anne was very much a caring older family member; the sort that declared themselves a rolling stone, and turned up once every blue moon or at the standard annual family-orientated event; and who fussed over the youngsters in the family- only to not be seen again for a fair while. She kept a careful watch over Hari, Hideki noted from his observations. The young captain was cheerful (sometimes painfully so), but she was often prone to lapsing into silences for hours on end; toying with an old ornate key tied around her neck with an old shoelace.

Li-Anne had also kept a watchful eye on Hideki. He was a few years younger than Hari, and though she didn't display her concern openly on her face (which he could understand, as he practiced that too), he could tell she was still trying to classify his personality. That, or she was overly paranoid.

Hideki's first week aboard Junky had been a trial. Li-Anne was the one to do most of work around most of the ship as the Navigator, Chef and Mechanic, with Hari assisting to do the more menial tasks such as cleaning, repairs with needlework, and stock taking below the deck when she wasn't 'supervising' proceedings in her role as Captain.

Mealtimes had been one issue Li-Anne fretted over, not sure what the young adult's tastes were, or if he had any objections to what she served. However, Hideki had bit straight into a ripened apple when sat cramped beneath the ship's kitchen table; the juice dribbling from the corners of his mouth.

"Is that not considered cannibalism?" Hari asked, her blue eyes wide and doe-like as she mentally recalled how Hideki had shot vines from his body. Vines that could possibly bear kindred fruit like the original specimens thanks to his altered body's abilities. Li-Anne hissed at the younger woman not to ask 'stupid questions', threating to bop Hari on the head with a sticky wooden spoon loaded with golden honey Hari had found when taking stock of the preserves Li-Anne had on board. Hideki merely shook his head in reply.

"Oh," Hari had said, having cut her own apple into neat slices. Hari dipped one slice into a dish of honey Li-Anne wearily set on the kitchen table, twirling it fastidiously so that the honey didn't trickle back into the dish. She ate slowly; taking fleeting bites of the sugary honey-coated apple, which clearly registered on her face she was enjoying.

"That's good to know," she finally said, clearing her throat, "I wouldn't like to accidentally offend you. Looks like we can eat grapes and you can drink wine again Li-Anne."

She was considerate like that; Hideki had gathered about Hari. Considerate, optimistic, serious, scatter-brained. Hari's moods were ephemeral, Li-Anne the more grounded and experienced of the two. They balanced each other well, but could simultaneously goad the worst of their traits out of one another in a way he couldn't fathom entirely.

Hideki wasn't all that sure where he belonged on this ship.

The departure from Isola Giungla was still fresh in his memory, and though it was delightful to feel the unadorned wood of the ship- which Li-Anne had affectionately told him was named 'Junky' of all things, beneath his bare feet, it was no substitute for the natural ground. The three wooden masts could not fill his longing for trees, not matter how the wood the ship was made from told him of their adventures around the Blues when Li-Anne was younger. The railings on the ship had many tales to tell, so he often took to sitting by them when Hari fell into a quiet stupor; listening to the prattle of stormy seas and a disdain for an isle named 'East Blue'.

On his eighth day of sailing with Hari and Li-Anne, Hideki managed to make it out of the cabin and onto the deck without hitting his head on the low doorframe- he had done this for several consecutive days, so it was only a matter of time before he learnt to duck just so to avoid bonking his forehead again. Hari had cheered loudly, Li-Anne cracking a wide, parental smile of pride. He settled against the railings, listening half-heartedly as the aforementioned told him of the flag their cousin the Mast was always waving about.

Hideki was curious. He surveyed the flag's design, and shrugged. It couldn't hurt to inquire what it meant, no? He caught Hari's eye, then pointed upwards to the Jolly Roger proudly hoisted at the top of the central mast below a whirring turbine.

"You want to know about our skull and crossbones?" Hari surmised from his gesture.

"… Aa…"

"Hm," Hari tapped her chin with her index finger, the focus of her eyes floating towards the flag, "It was given to us by a lady named Darling. Her husband and daughter helped to upgrade Junky after we got them out of a tight spot."

The less said about the Lucien Incident, the better, Hari thought shrewdly.

Hari defeating the Marine Commodore had not brought the travelling duo any unwanted attention, so the events of that fateful morning had been pushed to one side and forgotten. Perhaps Marine Commodore Lucien ('stationed at the entrance of Grand Line!') was too prideful to announce he had been beaten up by an itty-bitty leatherwork needle? Hari nearly snorted at the though. She and Li-Anne had not encountered any Marine ships on their tail during the weeks of sailing before they had docked at Isola Giungla, and were quite happy for Lucien to remain just a capitalised anomaly in their past. For the sake of clean, Marine-free sailing, they hoped their luck would remain.

"Just after we set sail, we were wondering what the design meant," Hari told Hideki. "The mallet stands for Li-Anne, the needle for myself, but we had no clue what the flowers were for."

Hideki thought for a moment, before his visible features lit up in comprehension. He stretched out his palm, vines snaking up his left arm with blues matching the ones depicted on the flag exactly.

Hari snapped her fingers; "Damn, the Chief was right."

"About what exactly?" Li-Anne interjected, face twisting at the memory of a bawling Chieftain Coquelicot from the night she got more than a little sozzled.

"About how the people of Pastello Island could create things on a whim but have no idea what they were doing," Hari pointed to the flag and then Hideki, whose body was now mummified by the squirming vines and flowers. "See! Darling had no idea we'd pick up another crew member over on the next island, but she made a flag anyway."

Li-Anne whistled, "Give Lin-Lin her credit where it's due, Kiddo."

Hari was utterly spellbound by how Hideki could manipulate the vines sprouting from his body, and inquired as to what else he could do with his Devil Fruit powers. He had already demonstrated how the vines could spring from his body and lash at those around him, and shown them that they could also be used to secure enemies due to how they twisted around his body.

Hideki took a deep breath, allowing his body to meld from flesh and bone into bark and earth. He stretched, and twisted, and creaked; limbs growing stiff and unyielding like an old Oak tree.

"Oh my- Li-Anne! Li-Anne!" Hari screamed, "Our third crewmate is a _tree_!"

Li-Anne, who had been keeping a look out with her pair of trusty children's binoculars, nearly dropped the pair in fright: "Mariejois have mercy…"

Hideki, already at a lofty height in human form, had grown taller if possible. His arms and legs were lean and willowy, his torso strong and robust. Leaves formed the snarls of his hair and covered his modesty, the features of his face replaced with the gnarled knots found on old trees.

"He's a tree-man…" Li-Anne whispered, as though to assure herself that what she was observing was not a figment of her own imagination.

"That is so awesome!" Hari cried. "What else can you do?!"

Hideki felt his body shrink and loose it's earthly affluence. He grew a small white flower from his fingertip and gave it to the shocked Li-Anne. He then tapped it with his index finger; another flower of the same species grew in the very same spot he had made a connection with the first blossom as he moved his hand away.

Li-Anne was confused. She clutched the flower he had given her tighter. Hideki winced, and urged her to loosen her grip; the daisy he had grown for her was complaining about the strength of Li-Anne's grip.

"Oh, I see," Hari said, startling the elder woman. "If you find a plant you've not seen before, you can copy it after touching it."

 _"How in the name of One Piece did you get that from his magic fingertips charade?!"_ Li-Anne roared.

* * *

The fact still remained that this relatively new crew of motley characters had not given themselves a name. Hari felt she had grown idle, whilst both she and Li-Anne bounced ideas off of one another. Hideki had just lifted his shoulder in response to their suggestions, and took Marvin the transponder snail below deck to call his mother. So now, Hari was creating more chains of pom-poms, stringing them together to fashion a belt for the newest member of their crew. Her tongue stuck out from the corner of her mouth in concentration, and she hummed in satisfaction as the last pom-pom slid onto the string and was secured into place.

"What do you think?" She asked Li-Anne, holding her finished work aloft.

"'The Pom-Pom Pirates'? Doesn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of Marines now, does it?"

Hideki emerged from the cabin with Marvin resting on his palm- the snail was mid-call, so both women gave their quick salutations and reassurances to Elena about Hideki's wellbeing.

"We're just trying to settle on a crew name, Ma'am," Hari told the snail, which relayed this to Elena back at Isola Giungla. Hari wrapped the belt of pom-poms she had made earlier around Hideki's own orange sash; the latter used to cinch the baggy green trousers he wore to his narrow hips.

"Hari thinks we should be called 'The Pom-Pom Pirates'," Li-Anne called from a distance, as she was checking Junky's course along Grand Line.

"I didn't say that!" Hari said indignantly, "Honestly, you make a statement belt for someone and all of sudden words are put in your mouth."

Elena's voice crackled through Marvin; "Well I happen to think that it's a very nice name. Befitting of a pirate crew my son belongs to; very safe, very nice."

The call disconnected.

Hari made sheepish eye contact with Li-Anne, who raised her eyebrows back; "Pom-Pom Pirates then?"

The pair looked at Hideki, who shrugged. "…Aa…"

Li-Anne sniffed, fingers tracing the garland of pom-poms around her neck. She dipped her chin down to her chest and smiled; "I guess it could be worse."

"Why?" Hari asked in a bemused tone, "What was your next suggestion going to be?"

"Somethin' along the lines of 'Kiddy Crew'. We look like a bunch of youngsters at any rate," Li-Anne smirked as Hari folded in laughter and Hideki's shoulder shook with muted mirth. "That might work to our strengths though," the woman mused.

"Because we don't look experienced enough to be taken seriously?" Hari chimed in.

Li-Anne shuddered, "Your perceptiveness really surprises me, Kiddo. Looks like the hamster isn't dead and keeping the wheel turning after all. But you're right; between you and me they might have a good laugh at the prospect of a fight. Beanpole over there'll probably get a few second glances because of how tall he is."

Hideki didn't look too agreeable with the possibility of a potential skirmish, as did Hari.

"We'll want to avoid fights though," Hari affirmed.

Li-Anne gave a long-suffering sigh: "It's not as easy as that though, some people will take you down because you look easy. Some people won't even bother because you look _too_ _easy_. Marines will jump 'ya if you so much as say 'pirate'. We can try to avoid as much fightin' as possible, but there will be occasions were goin' head to head is inevitable."

Hideki, now stood with Hari, clenched his fists. The young captain noticed, and pet his arm lightly; "Don't worry, we'll just have to get really strong so we can defeat them-"

Li-Anne began to look at her Captain in a new light; it seemed the young woman was embracing life at seas with open arms. To fight was to stay alive on Grand Line; it was second nature to Marines and Pirates alike, just like breathing. Perhaps Hari was opening her eyes to the potential danger of this ocean and the people who sailed upon it- perhaps she was learning what it meant to be a Pirate, despite being so closed to the idea back in Logue Town and forced by her own hand into this very situation.

"-or we can get so fast that they can't catch us if we leg it."

Li-Anne nearly lost her footing on the deck. While outrunning enemies was incredibly useful at times, it seemed that the journey so far hadn't stripped Hari of her pacifistic behaviour as much as Li-Anne had initially thought.

* * *

The next day, Li-Anne clambered sleepily to Junky's deck only to be met by Hari encouraging Hideki to explore his Devil Fruit powers to the maximum. Hari explained that Hideki could manipulate the vines into a woven thorny wall, though the optimum coverage that option provided was not yet fully known. Li-Anne had listened sceptically when Hari told her that Hideki's blockage was taller than Junky's main mast; she nodded absently, thinking that the younger woman was perhaps too taken with the cursed fruits abilities and had slightly exaggerated what had truly happened. Hari had a touch for dramatism, she had noticed during their travels, despite the fact that she could also be scarily pragmatic and mature.

Hideki had begun work on creating a hybrid form of his Logia abilities. The tree form, however useful it could be as an evasion tactic or for defence, did not provide any offensive skill. Manipulating plants and trees to form wooden armour would be the ideal way to protect his body, though Hideki knew he would still rely more on his vines and the pot-luck of a longer ranged opponent if he were to enter a fight. He also had no idea of how to go about maintaining his concentration enough in order to manipulate the specific armour he needed.

"You can do all of that already, but what about you Hari?" Li-Anne rubbed her temples, "You got that upgraded sewing kit from Darling, and I still don't understand how in Holy Mariejois it works."

"First of all, I did tell you a while back that I'm good with my hands." Hari told her snootily, though her smile betrayed the playful undercurrent of her tone, "Da' was a master tailor and he taught me everything he knew. I've been making high-grade clothing for people since I was ten. If you were to walk into Argyle's back when it was alive, I would have had your measurements jotted down before you'd have asked for a fitting."

Li-Anne whistled lowly, "But what about the weapons? How did they work?"

"Darling said they responded to 'intent', whatever that means. So when I decided to take on Lucien and actively thought about how to defeat him without a weapon, they responded to my idea to take him down with the sewing kit. It felt like I'd pushed a button," Hari elucidated.

"I saw those things- there were no buttons on them," Li-Anne said, confused. Hideki too, looked perplexed. "Do you mean that literally, or in a poncy emotional way?"

"Well there must have been some buttons- whatever they were, because I pushed them!" Hari crossed her arms mulishly. Li-Anne was right; the surface of the needle-sword's hilt had no spare surface area to yield for buttons. It was most likely that Hari's intent mimicked the act of catalysing an event via pressing down a button or flipping a switch. Not that the young Captain would admit to her verbal mix-up. Her companions looked at her sceptically and she quickly changed the subject; "Anyway, do you know how to use that mallet?"

The corners of Li-Anne's lips lifted ever so slightly; "I'm no stranger to weaponry, Hari. So don't you go worryin' about me. I'd be more concerned about our newest crewmate; eatin' an Akuma no Mi strips the user of the ability to swim."

"Seriously?!" Hari rounded on Hideki, who cowered and gently nodded. "I can swim, but not that well…."

"And though I'm a fair swimmer myself, I'm nowhere near strong enough to compete with Grand Line's currents. I'd be carried off before I got to you. Unless…. _Hold that thought!"_ Li-Anne rushed below deck. When she reappeared, it was with something bright pink and bunny-patterned in her hands, severely out of breath and covered in dust; "Here you go!"

"…?" Hideki held the object gingerly. A narrow pink inflatable rubber ring- the sort that young children use to keep afloat when learning to swim, was apparently the answer to his lack of swimming ability.

"Why is everything of yours either pink or has rabbits printed on it?" Hari muttered.

"The people on that island in East Blue have a sick sense of humour, and it was the only thing small enough for me to use. Should keep Hideki from sinkin' before we get him back on the ship again though," Li-Anne told them, brushing herself down. The rubber ring had been a pleasantly forgotten relic from her earlier travels; one that hadn't seen the light of day for a very long time. "Beanpole's got the hips to pull it off too. I always looked like a confused reject pastry…"

Hideki stepped inside the rubber ring, struggling to pull it to his waist. He was glad his hair covered the flush of mortification on his cheeks, and poked at one smiling bunny rabbit around the ring's circumference.

"Oh, suck it up," Li-Anne groaned, "It'll keep you from dyin'."

Hideki's shoulders drooped, knowing that the older woman was right. He sighed, and retreated to sit by the sides of the ship and pondered once more on his own local knowledge and geography of the islands closest to Isola Giungla. The sooner he was on dry land the better. He could take the mortifying rubber ring off then too.

Hari smothered her smile behind her hands. "How long until we reach land again?"

"He-" Li-Anne jabbed an idle thumb at the sulking Hideki, who had taken to gesturing rather than using speech in their presence- which Li-Anne seemed to have a difficulty deciphering, "Signed out somethin' like four weeks earlier. So it looks like we've got a month to work on gettin' stronger."

Hari hummed; "Well, at least I'll have something to do to keep me from getting antsy for a bit."

* * *

Li-Anne was ready to rip off her own pigtails by the end of that month. Life on Junky had never been this busy before, and she was still making the transition from sailing alone to having two others on the Junk ship with her. Li-Anne, after many years of traveling round the Blues by herself and managing just fine with minimal human contact, had now been thrust into looking after two people considerably younger than her- even though one was her Captain. Beanpole could protect himself, unless he went overboard. It was Hari she was more concerned over; the girl's mood could change like the weather conditions on Grand Line- and Li-Anne wasn't sure whether this was natural for Hari, or residual happenings repressed from the fire in Logue Town.

But while she was enjoying the company of other sailing alongside her for the first time in over a decade, that didn't mean that Li-Anne wasn't fed up with the people sharing her ship. It got tiring seeing the same people every day; especially with the ship being such an enclosed space. It was tedious being asked the same questions about their route, the travel time, what was for dinner, and working on their training. Li-Anne was beginning to care deeply for Hari, her quixotic Captain- and to a lesser extent, their new crewmate too, yet it was still a peculiar transition for her from alone to accompanied. A transition that drove her to her wits end as the youngster's became more restless.

So when snow began to fall and the next island came into view, Li-Anne rejoiced. She could take respite in this new place; it was a break from monotony. It was a break from an antsy Hari; who had dived into her room at the first sign of snowflakes to pull on a thick Doskoi Panda coat that had survived the Ripped Seam Purge back on Pastello Island.

"I guess this is a winter island then?" Hari raised her eyebrow as she watched Li-Anne shrug on her own coat, and gave Hideki a thick woollen blanket to wrap around his bony shoulders. He had left Isola Giungla with nothing but the clothes on his back, after all, and the spare flimsy garments Hari had crafted for him out of a depleting stock of bedsheets were unacceptable for such a prolonged amount of time. "We'll have to get you some new clothes, Hideki."

"You sort out Beanpole then, while I restock," Li-Anne delegated, preparing to dock Junky. She spotted an opening in the harbour, but soon blanched. "Hari, where did you put the shitty binoculars?"

"Ha! I knew you'd agree with me that they were bad. They're in the kitchen."

Li-Anne retrieved them, and raising the to her eyes her suspicions were confirmed; "There's another pirate crew on this island already. Minimal activity by the docks, but we don't know who they are and how big their crew is. Looks like a bunch of Goths from what I can tell from the ship's décor."

"Be wary walkin' round okay?" She told the pair sternly when the anchor was lowered. "Have you got all of your weapons- yes? Good, but don't antagonise anyone!"

Hideki and Hari agreed to be on their best behaviour in order to placate an overbearing and nauseously motherly Li-Anne, and hopped from the side of the ship to the ground. The former, who had gone for weeks in perfect weather conditions without his shoes, was now wearing hastily woven sandals Hari had cobbled together from an old potato sack, in order to protect his feet from the cold. The pair were bundled up in many layers to protect them from the sudden chill. Hari made sure to place some of Darling's modified weapons in her pocket, as the puffy coat she was wearing fell over her the top of her thighs and covered where the pouch for her sewing kit hung from her belt loops.

"It's very quiet here…" Hari noted.

The only sound they had heard so far were their footsteps breaking into freshly fallen snow, compacting it beneath their tread.

Hideki grunted.

"Maybe everybody is staying in because of the weather?" Hari pondered, but even she didn't believe that statement. The island was disturbingly quiet despite its size, and though the snow had begun to pile up high, the narrow winding streets offered quite a bit of protection. It would be easy to traverse them, despite the terrible weather conditions.

Nothing more was said, until having found a clothing store after a short walk into the town, Hari noticed something odd on the ground:

"Buttons…?" She crouched. The fresh snow crinkled under her feet. She gathered them in in her palm and brushed away the excess snow as Hideki knelt beside her.

They shared a confused look.

"You go on inside and find something to wear- make sure you have suitable clothing for each season; Li-Anne says it varies from island to island, and well, she wasn't wrong seeing as it's so cold here." Hideki nodded but didn't move as Hari handed him a wad of Beli; "I'll be fine, go on. I'm going to see if this is one of many that had been dropped."

Hari brushed snow from her fringe as she walked, kneeling occasionally to pick up a dark blue button hidden in the clean white snow. She wondered if there had been some sort of struggle- it wasn't normal for a shirt to loose so many buttons, unless they hadn't been sewn on properly in the first place. At one point, she jumped and whirled around- fairly sure that she had heard faint screams on the chilled breeze. Heart palpitating in her chest she followed the trail intently. Her persistence paid off when she found its source. Her eyes were quick to spot the frayed pieces of cotton on the shirt placket of the man stood before her. Only two buttons kept the black and white polka-dotted shirt clasped together, straining as he swung large curving rotary blades around and continued pacing down the side street. Droplets fell from the serrated edges, and Hari balked at the colour of the liquid.

"Excuse me?"

The man twirled, the blue and white striped helmet concealing his face seemed to pierce straight through Hari. What little of his face she could see through the air holes in his mask chilled her to the bone; just like the melting snow seeping through her sneakers.

"I think these buttons are from your shirt," Hari told him with a nervous smile. "I found them on the ground not far back from here."

The man said nothing, but released his hold on one of the handles inside metallic cuffs on his arms. By doing this, he could use the same arm to collect the buttons from Hari. One serrated blade swung dangerously close to her chin.

"I could sew them back on, if you would like?" Hari asked, but the masked man shook his head. The buttons were dumped on the floor by his booted feet. Then Hari truly took notice of the red tinge on the curving blades he held, and the spatters on his jeans. Then she truly began to panic. The few droplets that were shaken loose earlier, which she had tried to foolishly disregard as some other substance (in fear she would lose the breakfast she happily tucked into earlier that morning and to 'bravely' stand her ground as the Captain of the Pom-Pom Pirates), were now becoming a prominent warning signal in her head. Every fibre of her body screamed that she should flee now before she became an artistic spray of flesh and blood on freshly fallen snow. But Hari rather unwisely didn't run; her father would be turning in his grave if she didn't offer her services as a master tailor- Captaincy be damned. She gulped and steeled her quaking voice; "A-are you sure? It wouldn't take long."

She shuddered as the wind picked up, dotting snowflakes on her face. Her hands dug deep into the warm pockets of her coat, fiddling with the items of her sewing kit she had stuffed inside at Li-Anne's behest.

The man refused her offer again.

"Oh well then," Hari hedged, "I best be off."

She gingerly walked away from the side street, and when out of eyeshot she legged it back the way she came.

Hari thought of Hideki as she ran. He was alone in the shop with no idea whom was on the loose- and Li-Anne was collecting supplies by herself! They had better leave this island quickly, and that meant regrouping before heading back to the ship. There was an assured safety in numbers, and she was certain that it was that man who had raised the fine hairs on the back of her neck and not the cold weather. She quickly left the man behind, tracing the footsteps she had crunched into the snow earlier back to the clothing store. Hideki was waiting on the doorstep:

He held several bags, but his mouth was downturned.

"What's wrong?" Hari popped her head through the store's threshold when Hideki gestured to inside. "There's… no one there..."

Hideki shook his head. He had left money for the clothes he had chosen on the counter, seeing as no one had come to ring the items through on the till. Hari had a strange feeling; it had begun with the buttons, and escalated to an icy chill shooting through her veins as she encountered the masked man.

"We need to find Li-Anne. There's someone on the island who I think is from that Pirate ship we saw before… he was… I don't know, Hideki, but I don't think he and whoever is with him are good people. I heard screaming before- I'm sure of it," Hari told the Devil Fruit user. "We need to find where Li-Anne could be getting supplies from and leave as soon as possible. Something is really wrong with this place."

The pair began to walk swiftly; and further into the town, Hideki stopped their trudging feet only once- to change his shoes from the woven sandals to a sturdy pair of black combat boots. Hari could not fault him for it, the boy's feet had drained of colour in spite of his deeply tanned skin. She pushed down the voices crying inside of her that Li-Anne was only going to be in more danger the longer they spent to find her.

Luckily, down the next street they turned into, Li-Anne was struggling with a crate of supplies. The older woman caught sight of the two, and beckoned them to help her with the remaining crates. Like Hideki, Li-Anne had left a sum of Beli on the counter to cover the cost.

"How many are there left?" Hari asked, sharply interrupting Li-Anne's babble of how random and awkward an experience it was to try and negotiate with a News Coo bird, seeing as the human clerk of the store wasn't there to confirm her subscription. Li-Anne had sailed to many islands that had a lacking population, this total absence of human life struck Li-Anne as more than a little odd. Still, if this island wasn't all that fond of Pirates it made their task of restocking supplies easier. Li-Anne had thought of monopolising the absence of the store owner, but the knowing malevolent glint in the News Coo bird's eye had her rethink her earlier idea.

"Uh- two, I took the other back to Junky before- _Hari!"_ Li-Anne said sharply as the aforementioned woman scooped up a remaining box, "Hari what is goin' on? Why are you actin' like that?"

"The other pirates you said were here," Hari huffed, struggling with the crate's weight. She passed it to Hideki (who juggled to balance it with all of his other bags), before collecting the remaining cargo. "They're dangerous Li-Anne. I was lucky I got to walk away without putting my foot in it, but we can't stay here."

"Well obviously they're not so dangerous if you came out unscathed," Li-Anne scoffed as the trio began the trek back to Junky.

"There was blood on his blades, Li-Anne."

"So?" Bloodied weapons, bodies and hands weren't uncommon in Pirating life. Li-Anne had seen more than her fair share during her tour of the blues, though she chose not to dwell on those particular memories.

" _Fresh_ blood," Hari stressed, hopping anxiously from foot to foot.

"Had he cut himself?" Li-Anne asked.

"No, but he'd certainly hacked away at something- no, somebody else, if you get me!" Hari hissed.

"Oh. _Oh!"_

Hideki gave a muffled cry of surprise. He had been walking ahead of his two crewmates and dropped the heavy crate he was carrying on his feet in shock. They had entered what seemed to be a cobble-stoned plaza in the centre of the town, covered in pure freshly fallen snow. It had been recently dyed red.

"Be careful with that," Li-Anne chided, though her attention was focused entirely on Hari.

"Think about it, Li-Anne!" Hari gesticulated as well as she could without dropping her own crate, "Why do you think it's so quiet here?"

"Low population?"

"No! Something is going on here. On the last two islands there have always been people, and I haven't seen anyone other than that masked weirdo and you pair!" Hari worried.

Hideki, still in his shocked stupor, uttered, "… Blood…"

Li-Anne started; "Wha-" She rapidly paled in horror, whispering: _"Mariejois no..."_

The three members of the Pom-Pom Pirates observed the scarlet carnage in the plaza. The snow fell swift and thick, but it could not hide the rivulets of red streaming from the numerous bodies littered on the floor. Women, men, children, the elderly- even some loyal pets. They had been driven into this plaza, corralled like cattle. Not one had escaped the slaughter.

"We need to leave," Hari said, her voice thick. Her feet shuffled on the snow, which she noted had turned deep red; it began to stain the sole of her sneakers pink. She gulped and distanced herself from the bloody patch. "We need to go, _now."_

"Oi," a deep voice growled, "Did you get all of the bastards, Killer?"

The crew watched as a young man around Hari's age with bright red hair, swaggered into the plaza; one hand of his perched by his hip, below a belt of weapons strapped to his chest. The thick fur of his patterned coat ruffled in the cold wind.

"Yes, Captain," came the slightly muffled reply. "Heat discovered a small pocket of civilians hiding in a house."

"Are the arseholes dead now?" The redhead- the Captain, spat on a nearby corpse. The owner of the muffled voice made themselves known; Hari smothered her surprised gasp- it was the masked man from earlier. "Did you hear that?"

"No Captain, and I believe the inhabitants are now all dead. You said nothing about killing visitors," Killer informed his Captain.

"Serves them right. No one denies the Kidd Pirates of what they want. What the fuck are you talking about? 'Visitors'" The redhead rumbled pettily. Killer pointed simply to where Hari, Li-Anne and Hideki were stood; their mouths agape and eyes (for those that could be seen, Hideki's remained firmly hidden under his fringe) as wide as saucers. "I thought I ordered you to deal with all of them."

"They are not native to Nevis, Captain."

"Kill them anyway and get back to the ship. One bastard made a distress call to the Marines before I could deal with him," the redhead fluffed the furry lapels of his coat, and exited the plaza; kicking at the limp hand of one body.

After watching him leave, Hari turned her gaze to Killer: "I knew something was wrong, and you… you're a monster," she breathed.

"I have been called worse," Killer informed, his voice detached.

"You've killed them all. You've massacred a whole island- the whole of them, adults, children, oh my-" Hari clamped a hand to her mouth; she heaved, her breathing becoming shallow. "You've murdered _children_. You've- and you're…. _I offered to sew buttons back onto the shirt of a murderer!"_

Hari's eyes darkened at that revelation; "Li-Anne, Hideki. Go back to the ship."

"But-"

"Go back to the ship, use force to get there if you have to. That is an order."

"Yes, Captain," Li-Anne said lowly, Hideki giving a sharp salute with his spindly fingers as their Captain finally pulled rank. Hari's mood had flipped, her ephemeral nature emerging in a serious and grave incarnation. Li-Anne hesitated to move on, even as Hideki prompted her to leave.

"Just go, Li-Anne," Hari said sternly, withdrawing a crochet hook from the pocket of her coat, Hari willed it to enlarge. The hook grew larger than her in height, and wide enough that her hands could wrap around the metal staff securely. A look of determination was fixed upon her face; brows furrowed, lips drawn. Her muscles tensed and shook.

Killer chuckled; "It is pointless of you to fight me, Little Captain. Your legs tremble. Whatever attack you may have will not succeed."

"Try me," Hari bit, cursing how her legs betrayed her fear of what the man before her could do to her crewmates- no, her _friends,_ and she. The scythes attached to metal cuffs on Killer's arms began to whir into life, and the masked man took a heavy step towards Hari; his weight crushing the dyed snow beneath his booted feet.

"Whatever happened to the polite, helpful stranger I met earlier? Well, since you insist, I should at least complete my Captain's orders," Killer blurred into action, and Hari quickly brought her amalgamated crochet hook staff up to meet his blades. The connection of metal upon metal caused the motorised blades Killer held to scream. He forced them down towards Hari, who grit her teeth as she struggled to push back against the stronger man. Her sneakered feet slid for purchase in the snow. One final push against Killer using every scrap of strength left in her arms made the masked man stumble; his blades were jammed against the crochet hook and Hari saw that as her cue to run. The hook she held decreased in size as she willed her feet to fly faster over the slippery ground in retreat.

"Run as fast as you can, Little Captain. But even if you can outrun me to your ship, you won't escape the Marines," Were Killer's final words, as he too began to run to his Crews ship. The falling snow filled in the footprints the two left behind, but struggled to conceal such an overwhelming amount of red.


	6. Episode 6

**DISCLAIMER:** All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.

* * *

 **My thanks to** _EverlastingProcrastinator_ **for Beta-ing this chapter.**

* * *

 **Happy New Year to you all! Here is the last instalment of Arc Two. Reviews and PM's are welcome.**

 **Why not check my Tumblr blog for more behind the scenes posts, artwork, and sneak-peaks about this new story, and even some of my other works on Fan Fiction and A03? You'll find me as yuilhan-from-ff. tumblr. com on that particular site!**

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!"**

* * *

 **Arc Two:** 'Friend or Foe?'

* * *

 _Episode 6. O Captain! My Captain! Enter the Marines!_

* * *

Unfortunately for Hari, Killer was quicker on his feet than she. The masked massacre soldier navigated through the streets of Nevis and made it to the harbour before she did, so the Kidd Pirates promptly set sail. Li-Anne had begun raising anchor, while Hideki kept a watch on the horizon using Li-Anne's binoculars. He'd also pulled on the rabbit-patterned rubber ring, petting it nervously as though to check his life saver was intact.

"Where is that kid?" Li-Anne whispered, watching as the Kidd Pirate's ship sailed further into the distance meeting another vessel on its way- this time easily identified by its pristine colour and navy markings. Li-Anne began to sweat as she Marine vessel sailed closer to Nevis Island; this wouldn't bode well if Hari didn't make it back soon. "You don't think…?"

Li-Anne firmly shook any thoughts of a gravely injured or dying Hari from her mind; Killer had returned without any more recently spilt blood dripping from his blades or on his clothes, just the remnant spattered rusting splotches from the slaughtered inhabitants of Nevis Island.

The approaching Marine ship fired a cannon at the Kidd Pirate's vessel, yet missed spectacularly despite being at close range.

* * *

"Permission to speak, Sir!"

"… Granted."

"Lieutenant Hara, you suck at this," the Marine supposedly in charge of firing the naval artillery muttered after he was informed he could speak freely.

"Let me try again!" Lieutenant Hara pleaded, hugging the cannon tightly with watery eyes. The men on deck stared at their senior officer with equal pity and encouragement. _'Do your best, Sir!',_ they thought as one, as Hara lit the cannon's fuse again and took aim. The Marine gestured for those working alongside him with artillery to ready the cannons while Hara fumbled his aim. Should Hara fail, the Pirate ship would be out of the canon's reach by the time they prepared to shoot again. They were cutting it close as it was.

* * *

"She's got'ta be alright," Li-Anne told Hideki firmly, though her bottom lip wobbled. "She's not the type to try and quit before she's begun- _she's not._ She didn't die in that fire, and Roger damn me if she'll die because of them maniacs!"

Li-Anne stomped her feet, the snow beginning to pile on Junky's deck crunched under her boots. The sound of cannon fire rumbled closer, and Li-Anne flinched. She wished not to be loaded with this worry she held; wished that her Captain were not so bold or changeable. She wished that they were safe- Elena descending on them if a so much as a hair on Hideki's head were harmed was one such threat. But who would come to Hari's aid if not them? Who would be the one to defend her in her time of need, like Elena would for her own child? Li-Anne rubbed her temples with trembling fingers.

All through the drama happening elsewhere, Marvin the transponder snail had been tucked inside the kitchen- the warmest place on the ship; happily munching on some lettuce and unaware of the danger the crew he served were in as he waited on another call from Isola Giungla. ' _Oh to be Marvin'_ , Li-Anne thought dryly.

* * *

Lieutenant Hara missed. Again.

The Kid Pirates' ship sailed away unscathed.

* * *

Hideki's thoughts were centred on why Hari may have potentially been killed in an inferno, but he chose not to pry. Everyone had secrets and stories that they weren't likely to share, even Hari- one of the bubbliest people he knew. Perhaps the tale would be shared with him in the future?

The two of them waited on the deck for a few more minutes, silently watching for their missing crewmate. Hideki idly turned up the magnification to the maximum on the binoculars, and gulped. The Marine ship would soon reach the harbour; now frighteningly close.

He tapped Li-Anne on the shoulder, and she took the binoculars:

"Oh that _is_ _not_ good. We've got to find her and fast," Hideki tapped Li-Anne on her shoulder lightly as the woman began to fret. He pointed to her and then the deck. "You want me to stay here?"

Hideki nodded, then pointed to his chest. He made sure to remove the embarrassing rubber ring from his waist.

"You're goin' to go fetch her?"

Again he nodded.

Li-Anne deflated somewhat; "Make sure you bring her back in one piece, you hear? She's the only one of us that can understand you properly unless you speak."

Hideki smiled rakishly, and leapt from the ship. His long strides carried him quickly into the deathly silent town of Nevis Island.

Pulling the giant pink mallet gifted to her by Darling from her back, Li-Anne frowned. Her expression was grim, but determined; she would defend her ship and the others from Marines if she had to. "Let's see what this baby can do."

* * *

"Hara, you suck at this," Marine Captain Ishi told his subordinate, giving the despondent man in question a forceful pat on the back. "But more importantly- don't waste cannon balls! Do you have any idea how much the bills are for this ship thanks to your ineptitude? It's bad enough that HQ have need to ring me over the amount we're costing them in ammunition; and do you have any idea what Fleet Admiral Sengoku sounds like through that crusty old Den-Den Mushi? I had trouble identifying between him and his goat!"

Subdued, Lieutenant Hara replied; "I think you need to relax, Sir. Cannon balls should be covered in what we are monetarily issued by Head Officer to spend annually."

Ishi froze, his face contorting comically into rage; "'Relax'?"

"'Relax'?!" He boomed.

This was their Captain's flaw; he was as stubborn as solid stone. He could be chipped away at. Eroded down perhaps when he became swayed by something of interest or at the prospect of a challenging fight. But he was unmoving at the best of times- one such as these. Ishi took his responsibilities very seriously; to the point of no return, which, to his subordinates and senior officers, made him a very dull individual. Captain Ishi had no time for relaxation- his efforts were spent turning his crew into an efficient method of catching Pirates and other scummy low-lives, as well as keeping that efficiency to a minimal cost. Of course, with subordinates like Hara, this made Ishi's task a greater ordeal to tackle.

"Oh not again," Lieutenant Hara groaned, his fellow subordinates looking at him accusingly as their Captain fulminated for the fourth time that week. The week had only just begun afresh, and who knew how many times their Captain could rant and rave over the course of another six days?

"How can I 'relax' when I spend most of our sanctioned funding on ammunition that _you_ waste-" Here Hara hung his head, "-I've been paying for everything else out of my own finances! You try and 'relax'- Ha!, you try and relax when you live my accounting nightmare every day!"

* * *

Unbeknownst to Hideki, Li-Anne- and most significantly, the Marines, Hari was not gushing irreplaceable amounts of blood from a fatal wound. Nor had she been disposed of most cruelly by Killer.

She was in fact, lost.

The thickly falling snow had turned the young woman around, covering the footprints she had tracked into the ground earlier. Hari sniffed, and brushed her nose against the furry collar of her coat: for all of three seconds, her nose was warm. Then, she lifted her head and continued walking- trying not to notice how the mounds of gathered snow on the pathway could be hiding the corpses of those the Kidd Pirates slew.

Hari trudged along, head held as high as she dared against the frigid winds. Her cheeks were reddened, from both anger and the cold. Cadenced crunching could be heard in the distance, and Hari fingered the crochet hook in her pocket once more; perhaps Killer had returned to finish what he had started.

When Hideki rounded the corner and his gangly limbs skidded to a halt on the snow, Hari visibly relaxed. Her hand fell from the crochet hook in her pocket and limply to her side. Panicked, Hideki grabbed the young Captain by her shoulder, pushing her onwards back to the ship.

"Hideki, what's wrong? Is it Li-Anne?" Hari questioned. He shook his head in reply, arms flapping like a bird's wings. Hari seemed puzzled; was Hideki trying to imitate a bird or an 'M' shape. She hazarded a guess; "Birds? Big birds?"

Hideki shook his head, repeating the motion but holding his arms in the shape of twin arcs for a longer period.

"Marines?"

Hideki's head whipped up and down in a hurried nod, Hari catching a glimpse of worried dark eyes beneath the subtle movements of his hair during the motion.

"We need to get going then," Hari grunted. They began to run, following the fresh footprints Hideki had created moments prior.

* * *

The officers from the Marine vessel stumbled to land, flanking either side of Junky. Li-Anne waved her large pink mallet threateningly from aboard her ship, small hands tightening around the rubbery handle in anticipation. She was small enough however for the side railings to cover her movements easily, so the Marines had no idea of whom was on board and observing their arrival. Li-Anne carefully placed her mallet to one side, and silently crept closer to the railings to get a better vantage point.

The next person to arrive on the dock was a nondescript man. His hair long and pulled back into a low ponytail- it was a dull brown colour; his eyes were an even duller black. His skin was of a neutral hue; inevitably causing him to blend in with life's wearisome masses even more. The Marine uniform he wore was pristinely presented- buttoned and laced correctly from head to toe, not a tassel or seam that could be seen was wonky or tattered. He carried no ostentatious weapons and did not add embellishment to his Marine ensemble. No distinctive marks and battle scars were present on his bared features. All in all, this man was plain. There was simply nothing significant about him.

Li-Anne was most confused; why had she been so worried about Marines descending on Nevis Island? Surely this man and his crew was a push over? Li-Anne tightened her hands around her mallet at the thought, wishing she could slam her head against the deck and groan without being detected. 'Push over'? Li-Anne was practically Royalty in terms of being underestimated, so why should this Marine be any different. Perhaps under his straight-laced persona lay a super warrior, or an unstoppable machine tuned to inconspicuously dispatch enemies? Li-Anne took another look at the Lieutenant, who wrung his hands nervously as his men stood in formation.

He was either a very good actor or definitely inept at his job. Li-Anne wasn't totally sure, and it set her teeth on edge.

"Right men," the generic Marine said loudly, then cleared his throat apologetically; "And women- we don't discriminate. May half of you surround this ship! No one leaves, no one enters less I or the Captain hear of it. The rest of you, form two groups- you will split up with both myself and the Captain to search the island."

Perhaps with a Captain the Pom-Pom Pirates escape from Nevis Island would be slightly complicated.

"Lieutenant Hara, Sir! The Captain has already left-"

"WHAT!" Li-Anne blinked as the basic-looking Marine's temper exploded. "What do you mean he 'left' already?"

It was a fair question; Li-Anne hadn't seen anyone slink past while Lieutenant Hara had been doling out orders. The Lieutenant's distraction was somewhat disturbing though- how easy was it for criminals to sweep past right under their noses (quite literally)? These were the elite protectors of civilians and upholders of Justice, and so far, Li-Anne could say she was left feeling quite disgruntled by their attempts. Where were they when Cana was being abducted? - though something told her that perhaps that particular incident had been orchestrated by someone much higher in the ranks than Lucien. Where were they when an island full of innocents were slaughtered? How could they miss firing a cannonball at the very pirate ship that transported the murderers?

"… Exactly that, Sir. He's already gone ahead, Sir. He said something about 'relaxing' and 'going for a stroll', Sir," one of the more vindictive Petty Officers sailing with the uptight Captain and the unaccomplished Lieutenant informed.

Lieutenant Hara began to tremble, hunched inwards on himself; "I can't even organise the men without something going wrong…" He mumbled helplessly. The plain man recovered himself quickly: "Change of plans, the Captain's group shall stay here- search around the harbour for anything suspicious or for Pirate activity."

Hara raked a hand through his hair, regretted it, and smoothed the bland brown strands back into place against his skull. "My group, with me."

"Yes Sir!"

The black boots of the Marines in Lieutenant Hara's group clicked on the stone docks as they marched in formation into the snow coated town.

"'We don't discriminate'," the vindictive Petty Officer who had spoken out earlier spat. Li-Anne noted the man's teeth were yellowed and slightly crooked; something that did not fill the preteen-presented woman with any confidence. Would you turn for help to someone so warped? Heroes of Justice were seemingly perfect after all, to the imagination of the masses. "We're a troop of bloody generic Marines; Harold at the back there's had his eyes edited out and under his cap shadowed we're so bland. There's no women _on_ the chuffing crew."

"Hara's only being considerate of those oppressed by gender tropes and society's expectations of sexuality," one faceless voice from the crowd of Marines called. "And aren't we supposed be to searching the docks?"

"Yeah, well how much good does that actually do when we're supposed to be looking for Pirates? Should be shooting the bastards down, not flapping over people's wobbly bits and emotional states…" The Petty Officer grouched.

"Bloody hell Frank, who pissed on your bonfire?" Another Marine moaned.

"The 'Defender of Justice' we call a Lieutenant," The Petty Officer, now identified as Frank hissed back. Li-Anne's eyebrows arched upwards; talk about bitter. Surely a Marine Lieutenant and Senior officers wouldn't find this an appropriate topic of conversation. Li-Anne's lip curled; it was just like the Marines to be corrupt on all levels. She nodded in acquiescence- knowing she had made the right choice travelling solo for as long as she could before she joined piracy. "Considerate my arse, the only women I care to know of are Tsuru and that Hina woman. Unless you've got something to admit, Dave?"

Dave (the voice from the crowd of Marines Li-Anne couldn't pin-point) sputtered out a denial. Li-Anne chose this moment to scramble up onto the top of the railings of her ship, pink mallet slung lazily over her right shoulder.

"I could always help with that," she chirped as sweetly as she could with a voice like a smoking ashtray.

The Marines below startled and aimed their rifles to the small figure: "There was a brat up there the whole time!?" Dave cried.

"Oi!" Li-Anne growled, "I'm thirty-two!"

Dave blinked, "My apologies, Auntie."

"THAT'S ' _AUNTIE BRAT'_ TO YOU!" Li-Anne bellowed, her curling blonde pigtails seemingly puffing out like the heckles of an irate cat. Knowing that Hari and Hideki would not be able to board the ship while it was surrounded by that many Marines, even if they did make it back to the docks soon, Li-Anne decided the only option she had was to level a path for them. If she had to go to all of the effort to do that, then she may has well just have some fun on the job.

The Marine's smirked at the unassuming woman, converging in on Junky. It would be simple to overwhelm her, Li-Anne realised. She would have to show no mercy should she and others wish to escape from this island not incarcerated.

"Screw it," she mumbled. "You want more women on your ship? Then let's play a game of Marine Croquet."

"Uh… We'd rather arrest you and seize your ship Ma'am-" Dave raised an index finger in the air and shot a look to Frank; blaming the mouthy Petty Officer for every comment that had spewed from his lips throughout the duration of time after Lieutenant Hara had left. Frank gnashed his teeth back with a shrug of his shoulders; after all, how difficult would it be to defeat a preteen pretending to be twice her age? It was the equivalent of watching a kitten claw at a tiger- and the Marines were most definitely the tiger at this point in time. The girl might put up an amusing fight, but she'd be in chains before the Captain came back for sure.

Li-Anne grinned, hopping down menacingly from Junky to the wooden jetty and giving her mallet an experimental swing. The men began to shuffle uncomfortably, but stubbornly held their ground. Li-Anne knew she would have to go all out; something she hadn't done in some time. She twisted her neck, popping the joints with a menacing _crack_. Frank scoffed at this, and a long forgotten seed of carnage inside of Li-Anne's mind bloomed and took control:

"May Mariejois have mercy on your testes," she purred. "Because I _certainly_ won't!"

* * *

"Hideki, have you got any idea where we are?" Hari asked, scratching the top of her head. The snow had begun to obscure the hanging signs on the outside of shops, and any distinguishing colours the window frames and doors may have been painted. The tall boy shook his head; he was as equally confused as Hari.

"Hey, you two over there-" a gruff voice called with about the same intensity of stepping into gravel barefoot. Hideki and Hari span, kicking up the snowy ground as the voice startled them. Hari clutched at Hideki's coat-covered side, biting her lip to try and quell her jumpiness.

Snowflakes caught in his spiked ash-black hair, a Marine stood before them- tall and stern. His features were sharp, a likeness to the statues the masters in Mariejois are employed to chisel from the finest stone that Hari had only seen in the newspapers. His height was lofty, like Hideki's. Dissimilarly to Hari's lanky crewmate, this Marine is solidly built; Hari could see the muscles roving under the pristine uniform. She made sure to put all of her tailoring eye-to-measure skills to use in order to capture the sight. "We received a distress signal from this island about Pirates, yet I see none. Are you wasting Marine time?"

"N-no, Sir!" Hari stutters. "We're just passing through and were hoping to pick up supplies- though we had a run in with some unsavoury characters earlier."

She looks worriedly to Hideki, finely formed upper teeth biting into her lower lip. Dare she direct this man to the plaza from earlier? Would he suspect them as the cause of the bloodied scene?

"Do you own that ship in harbour?" The Marine enquired, his brows knitting together and settling low over his hardened eyes. The Marine's eyes flicker over their appearances; he takes a long time scrutinising the weak pink patching on Hari's sneakers- though the snow had daubed at the blood gathered on the soles of the shoes and removed most of it. Hari can feel her cheeks begin to redden from something other than the biting cold weather on Nevis Island; fear and guilt welling inside of her caused the flush to bloom.

"Not us personally, but the third person we're sailing with has owned the ship for a while," she answers truthfully, Hideki nodding along.

The Marine made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, but made no move to capture them. "That tells me everything I need to know."

Hari and Hideki visibly relaxed.

"Captain Ishi, Sir!" The two Pirates tensed again as many Marine's flocked around them. Trapped in the middle of the street between one commanding, senior Marine and a whole gathering of his subordinates. "We've had news over the transponder snail that one assailant has begun an assault against the men stationed at the docks, Sir!"

"At ease, Hara. I've found our pirates." The chiselled Marine who had stopped Hideki and Hari replied.

"-The assailant is said to wield a large pink mallet, is roughly five feet tall, and wears a distinct necklace made of pom-pom… _oh._ " Hara, who must have been a higher ranked officer under the other Marine, trailed off. He noticed the decorative pom-poms sewed along the hems of Hari's shorts and wrapped around Hideki's waist, and gaped, pointing rudely at the pair: "Accomplices!"

"I have an objective for you all," the Captain spoke resonantly, "We take these pieces of scum into custody before they can massacre another island right under our noses!"

The Marines roared in agreement.

"Take em' down boys!"

"And girls!" Hara cried, earning strange and exasperated looks all round.

* * *

Li-Anne smiled to herself as one more Marine crumpled under yet another blow from her mallet. Darling's prowess in crafting weaponry had solidified the woman into a firm friend in Li-Anne's mind, as the latter found that the mallet made an obnoxious squeal when it connected with the intended target; somewhat like a wheezy chew toy Li-Anne had seen unwitting attentive owners give to their pets.

"Right, let's see you shape yourselves. You two!" Li-Anne stuck her index finger out towards two cowering Marines; "Form an archway. The rest o'ya delegate between yourselves who's the best at forward rolls before partnerin' up to make your own archways."

"S-scary," the Marines whined.

"Why are you making us do this?" One bravely called from the crumpled mass of forms laid out on the docks. It was Frank, and he had clawed himself from the ocean onto the edge of the stone docks- seaweed hanging limply from his left ear.

Li-Anne had already taken down most of the arrogant men in quick time- the muscle memory and the mallet making light work of the job. Having found her spree of whacking them about the head with her mallet insufficient, she had devised a fun way of passing further time in her head. Perchance then they would learn she wasn't just the guise she wore. "Because the game has only just begun, lads."

One Marine bravely lunged for her, but Li-Anne took him down with one lethargic swing of her mallet. She hadn't been kidding when she told Hari she could take care of herself, and with Darling's crafted weapon made with Li-Anne in mind, she was most certainly a force to be reckoned with. It was almost disappointing that not one of the Marines was on par with Li-Anne's current skill; though she reckoned that there would be others in the future to knock her down a peg or two. Just like _he_ did.

Li-Anne smiled, all teeth and dimples and certainly not dwelling on the deeply buried past; "Get a move on!" She barked, and the men scrambled into position: the terribly unlucky one left without a partner swallowed harshly. He was to become the ball in this oversized game of human croquet.

* * *

Hari and Hideki stood back to back, or as close as Hari could get to Hideki's back considering how the teen towered over her own height. She pulled the crochet hook from her pocket once more, this time simply holding its metallic weight in her palm. It caught a slither of bright light reflecting off of the snow covered ground, the deflected beam dancing on the thick downy panels of her coat.

The Marines advanced, their numbers slowly closing in around them, but the Captain and his Lieutenant held back.

"They shouldn't be too much for you to handle," groused the Captain, "After all, they've slaughtered an island full of innocent people- an exhausting day's work for anyone."

"Sir, I don't think that is quite appropriate…" The Lieutenant wheezed, his boring features crinkling in slight repulsion.

The first few brave men under the Captain command crept closer, and Hideki's fingers twitched minutely. In the time it took for one excessively deep breath, the ground had begun to rumble.

"Hideki…" Hari murmured lowly, "Is that your doing?"

She felt him nod; ears straining to catch the almost inaudible rustle of his clothes and hair over the groans and crackling sounds the ground had begun to make. Vine's shot from the snow riddled ground, wild and thorn riddled. They climbed high above the rooftops of Nevis Island, snarling and snapping at one another. Then the vines began to fall, whipping through the air at incredible speeds. Many of the advancing Marines were swept away; caught on the thorns of the flailing vines the men were flung far away from the two pirates, screaming in terror at their short flight. But more Marines filled their places, even eager to take the two pirates down.

"I don't suppose you've got something a bit more… Hmm, how do I word this…? Effective?" Hari inquired, taking her crochet hook in hand and enlarging it. She then swung it in a wide arc, hitting three Marines who had gotten a little too close for comfort.

Hideki clapped his hands together sharply, and the thrashing vines stilled. They shrank somewhat, but twisted together to encase the pair. Hideki clapped again, and through the gaps of the cage the vegetation had formed, Hari watched as a barrage of thorns descended on the Marines. They were hit in non-lethal, but debilitating places; the knees, the stomach, arms, feet. The resulting yelping and cries of pain indicated that most of the men had been taken down; an elite few who had missed the thorn bullets stood unsure, gazes flickering to their superior officers. The Captain and his Lieutenant wore identical frowns, but did not step in to fight yet.

"I think that's enough for now," Hari told Hideki, the latter of which cancelled the snarling vines. They sunk back into the ground almost unwillingly, hissing like petulant children. Seeing that one of the pirate's defences had been lowered, the Marines rallied to attack. "On Second thought, why don't you try the bark gauntlets again and see if we can push through this lot?"

Hideki hummed in agreement, feeling a hardening layer of dense bark coat his lower arms. The deep grooves of his now wood-encased forearms were rough and dark; moss encasing his knuckles and elbow to help protect the fragile joints.

"The giant has Devil Fruit powers!" Lieutenant Hara gasped.

"A bit late off of the mark there, Hara," Captain Ishi replied, nonplussed. His posture had relaxed from its taught and sharp state, a serene expression making the hassled Marine Captain appear more ethereal than a man carved of marble. His interest in how the two pirates fought had caused his austere posture and facial expression to slip; exposing his desire for a challenging fight and the chance to deliver the duo to Justice.

Hara was dumbstruck; "Sir… You seem so _relaxed_ right now." Captain Ishi's expression flickered. He frowned, full lips now a stretched thin line; now more like a stone carving than anything. "Forget I said anything, Sir."

Having rushed through the final few men silly enough to battle against one whom had feasted on cursed fruit, and intimidating others into backing down, Hideki approached the Marine Lieutenant with his chin and nose jutting out haughtily.

"…Not a giant…" he lisped, leaning closer to accommodate to Hara's small height. From that angle, Hara could see directly through the gaps in Hideki's fringe; quite clearly catching the glare levelled at his person. "… Just tall…"

Captain Ishi snorted, give his subordinate a shove forward and Hideki retreated away from them; "You can take care of this one, right Hara?"

"C-c-certainly Sir," Hara conceded, sounding very unsure. The giant Devil Fruit user posed a very intimidating opponent, but Hara was determined not to let the Captain down!

* * *

"This is the most fun I've had in years!" Li-Anne cried with laughter, idly spinning her mallet in a loose grip. She'd had to collapse many of the formed arches in order to replace her human croquet balls- which were not the sturdiest things in the world, she had come to find. Their longevity was shockingly poor.

The Marine's couldn't say they felt the same. They were having a frightful time. Poor chore boy Jim's back would never be the same, and Harold became so shocked with how the game played out that he regained his upper facial features- only so he could temporarily display his alarmed expression with added petrified eyes. He desperately dragged himself closer to Dave, whispering into his fellow Marine's pocket to the Den-Den Mushi situated there in case of emergency. If they could just have some back up they might be able to apprehend the mallet-wielder…

* * *

Marine Captain Ishi stood to one side of the street with his subordinates as the Lieutenant under his command prepared to battle with an unknown Devil Fruit user. The powers the tall boy had displayed suggested that he had some competency with the cursed fruit he had ate, however Ishi was certain that his capabilities were limited or not fully developed.

"We've had new intel just now, Sir. Apparently a third pirate has demolished most of the force stationed there and they are requesting aid," the owner of the receiving emergency Den-Den Mushi informed the Captain.

"We won't be long now," Ishi huffed, "If they can hold out for ten minutes longer we should have these two in chains by then."

The subordinate made to relay this message, however from where it rested on his flat palm the Den-Den Mushi's face contorted in horror and all that escaped its mouth was the shrill squeal of a squeaky toy.

"I don't think they're going to hold out for much longer, Sir."

"Best cut this short then," Captain Ishi grunted.

Across the street, Hari began moulding a chunk of the banked snow into a seat. She kept her eyes on the amassed Marines as she sat on an icy throne, shrunken crochet hook to hand at all times. She groaned as Lieutenant Hara formally introduced himself, having found that introductions were frightfully boring things that desperate Marine officers used to reaffirm themselves:

"I am Marine Lieutenant Hara- and I'm not good at anything!" Said person promptly collapsed into a depressed heap in the snow with a loud sob. Hideki was not sure whether this was his cue to comfort the snivelling Marine or force a monotonous laugh. Captain Ishi looked on, unfazed. This was frequent behaviour for Hara which one grew accustomed too after a while. Hari, however, had found her hypothesis proven right yet again.

"…Hideki…" The teen announced himself courteously.

Hara stilled, his fingers trembling as they wrapped around fistfuls of snow. The neat ponytail he kept his groomed hair restrained in fell loose around his shoulders; shadowing his eyes. "Don't…"

He threw the fistfuls of snow at Hideki, the latter of which lazy swatted them away with his gauntlet covered arms.

"Don't pity me!" Hara bellowed, rocketing to his feet and taking a swing at Hideki's torso. Body lurching in shock, Hideki rushed to evade Hara's fist. Hara stumbled past him, shuddering to a halt in the snow with drooping shoulders.

"I… he…" He puffed, "I couldn't even land a hit…"

Hara folded to his knees in the snow, dejected.

"Is he always like this?" Hari queried from her snow throne.

"Yes," Came the terse response from Captain Ishi. "This is going to take some time, so I'm going to go ahead and apprehend you now. Hara, keep going. We believe in you."

As his Marine Captain spoke, a spark of determination was lit in Lieutenant Hara's soul.

"The Captain believes in me… _I can do this!"_ He rose from his knees, readying himself.

Hari, too busy watching the proceedings of Hideki's fight, completely ignored her own combatant. She shuffled on her snow throne, feeling her rear begin to numb from the biting cold material it was crafted from. Then she stood, and brushed snow from the back of her legs. Marine Captain Ishi took this as a sign that the fight was soon to commence.

"I'll take great delight in delivering your small cluster of murderers to HQ's front door," he growled.

Hari's body jolted; "Wait- what?"

However, it was too late. The Marine Captain's body mutated, skin bubbling, hardening, even flaking away in places to a rich grey. His hair -which already stood on end, looked more pronounced; each swirl and spiked strand flawless. He shook his head from side to side with a serpentine quality, and a loosed throaty growl.

"…What are you?" Hari whispered, her enlarged crochet hook lightly resting in the crooks of her elbows like a new born child. The man had become another person entirely; his skin akin to stone. Twisting horns Hari pictured wouldn't go amiss on the head of a ram were nestled atop his head, among the stone folds of his hair. His ears had become impishly pointed, talons extending from poised marble fingers. Even his clothes lost their fluidity; both body and apparel were as clunky as a monument.

"I ate the Oni Oni no Mi and became more gargoyle than man. Fitting, seeing as I deal with filth like you on a daily basis and gargoyles ward away evil," he growled in return through a set of granite teeth with sparkling canines. "You'll pay for the massacre on Nevis Island, Pirate!"

"Massacre-" Hari ducked out of the way of a stone fist, the month of intensive training aboard Junky coming into play as she reflexively avoided the blow. "What do you mean? We haven't done anything!"

Hari was slow to dive out of the way of the next attack, and although she raised her crochet hook astoundingly nippily, she crumbled under the force of the Captain's blows. Flat on her back in the snow, she heaved in lungful's of freezing air, cursing Killer for zapping most of her strength earlier. Or, a small voice in her head wheezed pathetically, she was just weak and the time she and the others spent training had been completely pointless. She had been lucky to escape Killer, and Lucien hadn't posed that much of a threat now she thought back on it- but how would she fair against a Devil Fruit user who competently knew how to utilise his powers. Hari had found Hideki a strong combatant, but the teen had only just begun to test his power's capabilities. Captain Ishi knew exactly what he was doing, and Hari was at a loss for how she could battle against him. With how heavy the Marine had become, perhaps evasion and trying to unbalance him would work well?

"Why are we taking the blame for someone else's crimes?!" Her crochet hook was brought parallel to the length of her body as she protected her face from a stone heel meant to connect with her chin. "We're _innocent_!"

"So you didn't just slaughter the population of this island?" Ishi scoffed, his heel resting on the metal hook.

Hari shoved the hook upwards, unbalancing him; "NO!"

An enraged animalistic cry sounded from the scene of Hideki and Hara's skirmish:

"Why can't I land one hit?!" Lieutenant Hara panted, tears dribbling down his face.

"Your subordinate is _crying_ ," Hari surveyed as Hara leapt at his adversary again, eyes streaming. She let her head flop back onto the snow with a sigh. This ordeal was becoming tedious, not to mention extremely dangerous; and all because they just _had_ to stop for supplies. She hoped that Li-Anne was alright back at the ship, concluding that by now Marines were likely to be present in the harbour. Hari let her mind wander to various contrary tangents, like how the Marines had certainly chosen some absolute nobody-ragamuffin to design and make their uniforms for them these days. Certainly not up to either Hari or Argyle's standards. Her nose crinkled with distaste.

"So he is," Ishi mumbled indifferently. "You didn't murder anyone then?"

Hideki, having dodged another sloppy blow, chose to answer the Marine Captain: "…Aa…"

Hara's cry of _"He doesn't even say much- but when he does it's monosyllabic and meaningful!"_ ricocheted through the street, wobbling the icicles hanging from nearby doorways and rain gutters.

"The bastard is so accomplished without even trying," Lieutenant Hara lamented, grinding his teeth together. With that he drooped to the snowy ground and curled up in a seamless ball of misery, wrapping his hands firmly around his knees. The spectating lower-ranked Marines began to mumble of how Hara really had no sense of self-worth or true belief in himself. Lieutenant Hara whimpered and furled in on himself even more.

"No, we didn't kill the people on this island; we stopped for supplies. We'd set sail from Isola Giungla a month ago without restocking and ended up here," Hari told the Captain with thinly veiled exasperation. "When we got here there was another Pirate Crew present. I fought with one barely before your ship arrived and he fled. They called themselves the Kidd Pirates, and their captain was the one to order the massacre."

Captain Ishi's brow furrowed, "They're newcomers, but are making a name for themselves. Got quite the bounty already, though for nothing quite on the scale of this atrocity. Give me the name of the one you fought."

"Killer," Hari snarled, fingers clenching around her crochet hook as it rested on her tummy. The cold of the snow beneath her body began to leech through her warm coat. She scrambled to her feet, dusting herself down. "We bumped into their Captain also, and he all but admitted he'd ordered a massacre because they were denied something. They're not normal, I tell you! Killer was a massacre soldier and I daren't spare a thought on how twisted his sicko of a Captain is."

"Nevis isn't an Island which tolerates any pirate activity at all," Ishi reeled off, "Should the inhabitants have been alive when you arrived, you would have found your reception to be a hostile one- most likely the cause of the conflict that occurred between them and the Kidd Pirates. Though you were not ultimately responsible for causing the deaths of innocent people here today, I must still take you into custody, Pirate."

With some effort, a tired and trembling Hari manoeuvred her still enlarged crochet hook so that the hooked end rested against the snow. She then fumbled to lift her coat and pull a reel of peach coloured cotton from her sewing kit, and shoved the latter object into the coat pocket opposite to the one she had been storing the hook in earlier.

Skirting around a still sobbing Hara, Hideki allowed his bark gauntlets to retract into his skin; "… Hari, Junky…"

"I quite agree, Hideki," she told the teen, "It's by far past the time we should have left."

She whipped the crochet hook about, snagging Captain Ishi's ankle and legging the Marine up. He landed with a huff in the snow, and Hari and Hideki ran from the Marines as fast as they could. Underhand escape tactics wouldn't stall the Marines forever, and it wasn't long before Captain Ishi regained his footing:

"After them!" He bellowed, giving chase to the fleeing pirates.

Hari shoved a now shrunken crochet hook into her coat pocket, using the free hand to grab Hideki's. "I hope you know where you're going," She panted as they sprinted through the streets, "Because I don't."

"…Aa…" Hideki puffed back, abruptly turning right down a narrow alley. The Marines followed suit, and Hari saw this as her chance to hinder their role in the chase. Using the hand not grasping Hideki's she deftly unwound a length of cotton from the reel she'd shunted into her pocket, making sure to wrap the tail of the thread around her fingers. She pulled the reel from her pocket, throwing it harshly behind her. It sailed past Captain Ishi and Lieutenant Hara, whom led the hunt, but had not reached the higher ranked officer's subordinates.

"Tangle!" Hari cried, as the cotton reel exploded into a disorganised web of peach coloured thread. Sure enough, the two still chasing Marine's subordinates became scrambled in the mess of fibres. Ishi and Hara halted mid sprint to try and free them men who were stuck.

Hideki led Hari out of the alley, and onto one open stretch facing the harbour. As they ran further and further away from the collection of Marines, Hari felt the threads looped around her fingers begin to tighten uncomfortably. If she did not recall them soon, the threads would slide through her skin the same way a hot knife could slip through butter.

"Retract," she commanded, and like a child's yo-yo the now untangled cotton flew towards her from the alley; cleanly wrapping itself around the reel as it landed in her outstretched palm. Shouts could be heard from behind them as the Marines gave pursuit once more, the group beginning to gain on them.

"Your turn," Hari squeaked to Hideki. The tall boy amassed a wall of vines to halt their pursuers progress, batting the Marines back. Only the still transformed Captain Ishi could withstand the force of the vine's blows. His stone appearance didn't weaken against the thorns and writhing stems, though a few scratches were gained in the softer patches of his rock body; such as the face and hands. One vine he drew close to had the opportunity to slash a thorn vertically against his eye before being pulverised between two granite fists alongside a roar of pain.

By the time Marine Captain Ishi's tussle with Hideki's vines ended, the pair of pirates fleeing arrest had reached the docks and found themselves in attendance of the half time session of Marine croquet.

"Li-Anne, what in Holy Mariejois happened here?" Hari yelled, watching a traumatised huddle of Marines shake and shudder as Li-Anne prowled the docks; the pink mallet Darling had crafted span in controlled circles within an indolent hand as the older woman took controlled, stalking steps.

"Oh, you both missed the first half of the game. It's great- I've not had this much fun in years," Li-Anne told them. The hand not holding her mallet clamped down on a nearby trembling Marine's shoulder. Said Marine screamed in an octave two times above the timbre of his own voice.

"Aren't you havin' fun?" Li-Anne questioned, shaking the now catatonic Marine's shoulder, "Because I'm havin' fun."

The Marine didn't answer and Li-Anne pouted, ceasing shaking his shoulder. Shouting could be heard, and the trio of Pirates turned to observe Captain Ishi, Lieutenant Hara and their subordinates sprinting their way to the docks.

"Well, I guess you found the other Marines," Li-Anne stated, watching their hunters run at full pelt to where they stood. "We should really be getting' on the ship about now. It's gonna' take me a while to turn it around."

The woman spun her mallet, the blur of pink causing many of the Marine's scattered on the floor sporting large bumps and bruises to flinch violently. "Looks like playtime is over boys," Li-Anne said sweetly, allowing Hideki to grab her waist and lift her aboard Junky.

"Until next time," she waved, helping Hideki heave his long limbs over the side of the ship. "Hey, where's Hari?"

The young woman in question stood foolhardily on the docks, hands rustling in her sewing kit and trying to decide what else she could use from the aforementioned bag of tricks. She pulled out the needle used for leatherwork; it was the most familiar in her hands, having defeated Lucien with it and then going on to train for a month with the same enlarged needle. Of course, other needles had also received a makeover from Darling, but they also didn't feel quite right when Hari used them in combat just yet. Hari also took a large button- one that had been left over in her kit from Argyle's haberdashery section. She hadn't worked with the button's other form much, but having felt first-hand how hard the Marine Captain hit and how easily she could end up on her back in the snow (multiple times in one day), Hari decided that protecting herself from a pair of solid granite fists aimed for her face was now her top priority.

"What are you doin' there?" Li-Anne called, worry spiking intensely through her body.

"I'm going to try and stall this lot; the more of them that I can hinder while you turn the ship round the better. Hideki, how far can your bridge manoeuvre stretch?"

The bridge manoeuvre referred to Hideki's vines. Four or five constructs would intertwine, forming a sturdy walkway, so long as they did not come into contact with water or stretched beyond the teen's current concentration limit.

"… Not sure…" The teen replied honestly.

"Do you think you could stretch it from the ship to the docks even if you were moving?" Hari asked.

Hideki ruminated quickly; "… Will give it a try…"

Li-Anne pulled the ripcord to Junky's motor and felt the sustainable ship purr under her boots. The turbines Coquelicot and Carnation had installed on Pastello Island created an energy source that was sure to never become unavailable. The new battery for the motor was rechargeable, the turbines helping to collect energy effortlessly and more importantly, constantly. If the wind were to drop and the ship was in trouble, the motor would be able to run for long periods of time, thanks to how much renewable fuel could be stockpiled.

"We won't move out too far, Kiddo!" Li-Anne called over the substantial roar of the engine.

The ship began to back away as the Marine's converged:

"Stop right ther- _eh?_ " Marine Captain Ishi commanded, only to find one pirate remaining on the jetty. Hari tensed; raising her sword and shield as the Captain sauntered forwards, signalling to his men and the nondescript Lieutenant not to advance any further. "Aren't you bothering to escape with the rest of your ilk?"

"As Captain it is my duty to oversee their safety," Hari said with some surety, "Even if that means I must sacrifice myself."

"Are you a Captain or a martyr?" Ishi growled, "I would prefer you to be the former, martyr's bore me with their expendability. It's cowardly of you to abandon them and sacrifice yourself-"

"Who said anything about abandoning them?" Hari asked, giving her sword a slight swing. If she was attempting to appear menacing, she failed spectacularly as the aforementioned arm spasmed.

"When I defeat you, your crew will be left without a Captain," Ishi told her slowly, "Doesn't that count as you leaving them behind, rather than escaping with your life intact? Either method is craven."

Hari thought on this. She had progressed from the knee-knocking marauder of Pastello Island, and though by no means 'strong', she could now hold her own. Sure, she was tired and could feel aches burning through her arms and legs, but was he so sure of his skill and arrogant enough to dismiss her entirely?

"We shall see," she told him evenly. "For now, give me all you've got. Li-Anne needs some time to turn the ship around."

Ishi levelled her with a flinty glare; "So be it."

With that, he lunged.

* * *

"Oh- _ow!"_ Li-Anne winced with a hiss, "Did you see that?"

Hideki nodded wildly. The pair were keenly surveying their Captain's fight from a 'safe' distance, yet even they heard the muffled cry of pain that escaped Hari as the Marine Captain punched her square in the ribs. Li-Anne had swung the ship around so that the motorised propeller faced the jetty, in preparation of a quick getaway.

"She's gonna' be more bruised than a rotten peach on market day by the time this is over," Li-Anne tutted.

* * *

Hari could feel the trickles of blood dripping from her bottom lip as her two front teeth ground deeper into the tender flesh. The fight against Marine Captain Ishi was certainly not going to plan, with her trying to dampen her sharp cries of pain as he landed blow after blow on her body. So far she had only had managed to raise her button shield against the looming stone of a Marine; not able to go on the offensive as he dominated the fight. The enlarged plastic material stood well against Ishi's stone fists, but did not prevent the recoiling vibrations from channelling through Hari's slender wrist and along her left arm.

She panted, discreetly rolling her rapidly numbing shoulder. The fight could not possibly go on for much longer if she wanted to make it back to Li-Anne and Hideki. She'd taken that many hits that she'd stopped feeling the pulsing pain in some areas of her body. Hari chanced a glance over her shoulder to look at the ship in the distance, and paid for her mistake:

"Don't take your eyes off of your opponent," Ishi spat, his punch soaring past Hari's shield and connecting with her stomach. The young woman crumpled, shield clanging against the wooden jetty and the point of her needle cutlass resting on the wood as her right hand closed around the hilt feebly. She heaved and hacked, breath wheezing.

Marine Captain Ishi regarded her; "Why don't you just give up. I told you that I would defeat you, and yet you stood to fight against me. Now you are down, my men and I will easily capture your crewmates."

He took a step forward, neatly polished boots making the wooden jetty creak; "As Captain, I thought you'd be more of a challenge. I'd hate to think how weak the rest of your lot truly are."

A bark of a laugh escaped Hari before she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth- her button shield smacking her on the forehead having done so. She groaned in pain.

"What is so funny?" Ishi demanded to know.

"You think they're weak, just because I couldn't stand up to you…" Hari tried to slow her panting breaths, "You are so, _so_ wrong."

Ishi procured a curious hum; one which reverberated in his throat like a predatory purr. Hari watched the marble features of his face quirk happily; "So you want me to believe that _you_ , the Captain of that ship over there, are the _weakest_ on board."

"Pretty much, yeah," Hari replied nonchalantly. She scrambled out of the way as Ishi pounded the surface where she had once been sprawled. The wooden jetty splintered under the force he exuded.

"DON'T MESS ME AROUND!" He roared, spittle flying from his enraged mouth. Hari was not ashamed to admit that even in anger and morphed by the Akuma no Mi, his face was strangely satisfying to look at. She quickly banished the thought and wobbled to her feet.

The wooden jetty cracked, swaying to and fro as the wooden supports below the shallow water loosened. Hari's eyes widened. She spun on her heels and bawled to the ship in the distance; "Hideki! Bridge manoeuvre!"

Seconds later, a chunky meandering vine stretched its way to docks but missed the wooden jetty by a mere fraction. The vine susurrated, the salt water already taking its toll on Hideki's Devil Fruit powers and causing the makeshift bridge to bubble uncontrollably and collapse. Taking a large leap, Hari landed on the rapidly disappearing vine, having to plunge her cutlass into the plants juicy flesh in order to keep herself from slipping. She pulled herself atop the flat surface of the organic bridge, pushing herself as quickly as she could across it without slipping off of the cylindrical stem. A thud from behind her left the bridge wobbling under her sneaker covered feet.

Ishi had begun the chase once more.

Lieutenant Hara and the lower ranking officers watched nervously from the docks as their Captain wandered carelessly over the top of the ocean; Hara going so far as to remove his boots, socks, and pristine overcoat should he have to stage a rescue. Captain Ishi had gestured for them to remain out of this fight, but Hara would intervene should his Captain's life be put at risk.

"Do you ever give up?!" Hari wondered aloud, as she nimbly traversed the vine. She didn't have far too go now until she would reach the ship, and yet the Marine had not relented. Other than Argyle in a frump over some lax stitches (he was sorely determined to make her unpick them and painstakingly redo each one), Hari had never met a man so stubborn!

"I cannot!" Ishi roared back, the heavy bulk of his stone Devil Fruit form straining the strength of Hideki's bridge-vine even more. It dipped under the Marine's weight- booted feet sinking into the verdant supple flesh. "No Pirate shall roam freely, not while I-"

"Oh I've heard this one before," Hari snipped, still inching away from him, "Are you going to introduce yourself again in a minute?"

"How did you kno-" He lunged again, catching the young woman's ankle. "Ah-ha!- _Arrghh!"_

The pair tumbled atop the vine, slipping from the cylindrical bridge. Hari caught herself before she could plummet into the ocean, yet Marine Captain Ishi clung desperately to her ankle and a nearby thorn. His eyes were panicked, but his face betrayed no such fear. HHis features were granite and immovable, even when his tenuous grasp on her ankle slipped and his dangling feet kicked at the open air pathetically. Panicked shouting could be heard from the docks, Lieutenant Hara diving into the frigid ocean.

Slowly but surely with the muscles in her arms screaming in protest, Hari pulled herself atop the bridge. She disentangled herself from the Captain's hold, kicking him squarely in the forehead. The man yelped uncharacteristically, and dug his stone fingers into the supple vine's fleshy stem. Hari watched the man flail, wondering if she should just let him drop and drown. She shook her head.

On her hands and knees, Hari shuffled to where he scrambled for purchase; "Grab my hand," she told him, setting aside the button shield.

"Why should I trust you, Pirate?"

Lazily tapping her chin with her index finger, Hari answered; "Maybe because I can stop you from drowning before your subordinate gets here- and wouldn't that be a shame if your pretty face went swimming with the fishes and never came back?"

The Marine swung himself towards her outstretched hand, choosing to ignore the compliment concealed in her rhetoric. She heaved him onto the vine, and quickly stood as he composed himself once more.

"Why would you help _me,_ your enemy?" He questioned.

Hari shrugged; "You owe me one now, so I suppose the least you can do is let us off scot free?"

Then she ran as though the Celestial Dragons of Mariejois were upon her.

* * *

"Hey," Li-Anne started, watching Hideki wrestle to keep the vine stable as their Captain drew closer. Sweat was dripping down the teen's face from under his voluminous hair. "Do you know how to turn that thing off?"

'that thing', of course, being the organic bridge he had conjured. The tall teen had been struggling to keep the vine a consistent shape and density as Hari began to traverse it and his creation had hit the salt-water. The Marine Captain had been an unwelcome addition to the escape plan, Hideki not entirely sure how Hari would be able to lose the former on a straight course. The man was more powerful than the inexperienced Pirate Captain, but certainly Hari had to be cannier?

He shook his head, and Li-Anne groaned; massaging her temples with her child-like hands.

"D'ya think you could lasso our idiot Captain in then if we get rid of the vine?"

* * *

"I owe you- wait! Get back here!" The Marine sprang into a sprint after spending far too long processing what Hari had just said in his mind. The pirate Captain was excruciatingly close to the ship now. Ishi ground the balls of his feet harder into the bridge, spewing obscenities as he hunted the young woman down. As the final few moments of sprinting commenced, only the gentle quash of the ocean and Li-Anne's shouting could cover the sound of a pair of winded breaths.

"Oi, Kiddo!" Li-Anne bellowed as a red faced and panting Hari sprinted nearer, "Cut the vine!"

"Do the what?" Hari bellowed back, conscious of the Marine Captain gaining on her.

"Cut. The. Vine!" Li-Anne made scissor motions with her hands for further emphasis. "Hideki can't control it well enough to force a stop, so you've got to improvise."

Stuttering to a standstill, Hari gingerly lifted her right wrist; of which was buried in the 'guard' of her needle-come-cutlass. She turned to her pursuer, looking at the determined expression on his features as he notices she'd stopped and that an arrest could be on the cards.

"I am so sorry," Hari told him sincerely, before lifting the cutlass high and severing the vine with one fell swing. Sweet sap coated her legs and the blade of her needle- another job for her, to clean up this sticky mess and her injuries would most likely last a while.

It seemed as though an eternity had passed before Ishi's face faltered as the vine he was standing on collapsed. He'd taken a step forward; his boot sole corresponding directly with the area Hari had bisected, and he had triggered the ruin of Hideki's creation. The Marine Captain plunged with a splash and did not resurface. His stone Devil Fruit transformation weighing him down even more.

A soft lasso of willow snagged Hari's middle, pulling her gently to Junky's deck as her own part of the severed bridge crumpled. She watched the water intently as Li-Anne shoved the ship into gear and they sped away.

* * *

Li-Anne sighed, stepping onto the small wooden stool she used in the kitchen in order to reach the worktop, small hob, and one step even higher to reach cupboards. Hideki watched as the older woman cracked open a number of eggs over a pan of salted boiling water, gently folding a large wooden spoon through the bubbling liquid. When done, she sighed again; then she used the spoon to scoop the poached eggs onto a plate she had set aside.

"I wonder what time the invalid will be up," Li-Anne drawled, the skirts of her dress swishing as she turned atop the stool, plate in hand. She gently stepped down, and placed the plate of eggs next to a wire cooling rack brimming with sparingly buttered toast.

Hideki shrugged, serving himself something to eat and tucking in. Hari had been in a fairly bad shape when his willow lasso pulled her on board; she collapsed onto the deck as soon as the Marine Captain she'd inadvertently dunked into the water was out of focus. As Li-Anne tended to Hari's many bruises and lacerations (muttering under her breath of 'idiot captain's, 'stubborn idiot's and how Hari's 'reckless' behaviour could have been instilled by Li-Anne herself- and whether the latter woman should feel proud or angry with the 'idiot Kiddo' she had created), Hideki blearily saw through the children's binoculars when the Lieutenant pulled the Captain ashore; both of them gasping for breath and soaked to the bone with frigid water. The Marines did not pursue their ship as the Pom-Pom Pirates fled.

Hari had not fared so well. Her torso was a mottled viper's nest of bruises; the padded Doskoi Panda coat she had been wearing could not protect her from hard impacts with the ground, nor could it cushion granite fists. Her right ankle bore some strain and a fierce red hand print that manacled around the slender slope where her calve met her foot. Her bottom lip had been worried between her teeth, layers of skin mangled and tenderly chapped. A few fine cuts littered her hands where the sharp edges of her cutlass had dug into the supple flesh- Li-Anne would have to remind her to wrap the enlarged hilt with a sturdy grip, or at least wear gloves when wielding the needle-sword, lest Hari tear open her keen hands each time.

The invalid herself shuffled into the kitchen, pyjama clad and wrapped in a thick blanket she'd embroidered around the edges during Hideki's first month of sailing on Junky.

"Good morning," yawned Hari, cupping a bandaged hand over her mouth to stifle her lethargy.

Li-Anne sniffed; "About time you woke up," she snipped, yet began to mother the younger woman- loading her empty plate with toast and eggs. Her eyes flickered to Hari as the young Pirate Captain wobbled while attempting to sit down- the ankle-engulfing bruise on her lower leg making it difficult to manoeuvre with grace. Hideki discreetly hid his snort of humour as a sneeze when he realised how Li-Anne had been masking her worry with ire; knowing that the tiny woman's doing so was how she expressed her brusque affection. However, he also knew that Hari and Li-Anne's temperaments could blaze like a ship on fire. Dangerous yet warming and poignant to look on. Li-Anne's brusque attentions could also bring about yet another argument, as it had done the day before when it was time to change Hari's dressings. Hari, though, was as equally guilty of riling her crewmate:

"Oh, is it eggs on toast for breakfast _again_?" Hari inquired when sat firmly in her seat, poking at the quickly cooling food with her fork. The perishable goods had to go first, therefore, the crew would be eating a lot of eggs with freshly bought bread, fruits and vegetables over the next couple of weeks. Until the fresh food went. Then they would just be eating the eggs alongside anything Li-Anne could find in the larder. Hideki braced himself for another argument.

"Patients should be grateful for any of the food they can get after pullin' stupid stunts like you did three days ago," Li-Anne growled.

Hari slumped. She placed her fork by the edge of her plate, and turned in her seat to face the older woman.

"Are you seriously keeping track of the-"

"What do you think Hideki?" Li-Anne interjected, and the teen in question tried in vain to shrink down his bulk or to blend with the wooden walls of the kitchen, "Should we get a chart goin' to see how long Hari can go without doin' somethin' _stupid_?"

Hideki gulped nervously, and averted his eyes to his rapidly emptying breakfast plate when the two women turned their piercing glares on him. He cleaned his plate, and promptly scarpered. Alone in the kitchen, Hari and Li-Anne remained and ate their breakfasts in frosty silence.

Li-Anne knife scraped against the ceramic.

Hari winced, and placed down her utensils.

"… I'm…" She cleared her throat; "I'm sorry, Li-Anne, for doing something stupid."

Li-Anne considered this. Her face betraying a number of conflicting emotions: the rage she felt at Hari's martyrdom, Li-Anne's pride at having Hari embrace a true Pirate versus Marine fracas, the sadness she felt at Hari potentially not making it back to the ship safely… the look on her own face as the mallet easily collided with countless Marines faces and the bedlam Li-Anne wrought on the docks… "We are all guilty of doin' stupid things, Hari. Just, don't do it again please, Kiddo. We don't need someone t' sacrifice themselves, and we don't need a dead or incarcerated leader. This ship needs its Captain, and… so do the crew."

"Li-Anne…" Hair wailed, eyes watering, "You spoke so profoundly and eloquent then!"

"Don't make me take it back Kiddo!" The older woman growled, though her eyes were also covered with a teary film. "I can always see if the Marines will take you away, that is if that Captain-bloke doesn't murder you for dunking him first."

Li-Anne almost regretted her words when Hari flinched guilty. Almost. She knew that Hari felt some remorse in having left a Fruit user stranded in the ocean, knowing of course that Hideki could well end up in the very same predicament should he fail to wear his rubber-ring. Despite the terrifying prospect of losing a crew member so soon, Li-Anne couldn't help but smile thinly with a slither of satisfaction. Hari had fought, evaded, and could have potentially killed off an enemy (in different circumstances)- the month of solid training had paid off, and it had begun to show the Pom-Pom Pirates. They were more attuned to the ways of Sea, the crew working together as smoothly as an oiled machine (tiffs and petty squabbles aside). But more importantly, they were _surviving_. If they had to take out a Marine, a fellow pirate, anyone who tried to stop them from doing so would be dealt with. Hari, Hideki and herself had demonstrated as much on Nevis Island.

Hideki peered around the low doorframe of the kitchen, stuttering over the threshold; "….Safe…?"

"Yes, it's safe to come in now," Hari affirmed, wiping away a loose tear. The air had been cleared; the arguments diffused. Now all that was left was for her injuries to heal.

A squawk from outside signalled the arrival of the News Coo bird, carrying the subscription Li-Anne had signed up for on Nevis Island. The older woman went out to collect the paper and pay the avian courier. She flicked through some of the loose fliers and notices enclosed in the paper, pausing to thumb through the most wanted posters. She pulled two of interest out of the stacked pile and placed them on the kitchen table; the posters of 'Captain' Eustass Kidd and 'Massacre Soldier' Killer were swiftly impaled with a butter knife and a fork by Li-Anne and Hideki's Captain.

Though she raised an eyebrow at Hari's action, Li-Anne paid it no mind. Perhaps Hideki could fashion them a dart board during the periods in which he trained his Devil Fruit abilities and they could take turns in maiming the two wanted posters? Li-Anne idly skimmed through the rest of the bounties and stilled, the colour draining from her face.

"I don't think we're goin' to be safe for long," She groaned, placing the now open newspaper on the kitchen table. "Not when your mother gets hold of us, Hideki."

Three shiny new wanted posters stared back as the three Pom-Pom Pirate's faces drained of all colour at the prospect of Elena's wrath.

* * *

 _"He that is thy friend indeed,_

 _He will help thee in thy need:_

 _If thou sorrow, he will weep;_

 _If thou wake, he cannot sleep:_

 _Thus of every grief in heart_

 _He with thee doth bear a part._

 _These are certain signs to know_

 _Faithful friend from flattering foe."_

 _― 'The Passionate Pilgrim',_

 _William Shakespeare_

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!" – Arc Two [END]**

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!" – Arc Two; Musical Inspiration:**

* * *

"Ecce Homo Que Est Faba" – Howard Goodall, 'Mr Bean' (Tv Series) (Lit. "Beware the man who is a bean")

"Mowgli's Road" – Marina and the Diamonds, 'The Family Jewels'

"Black tears" – Isak J Martinsson, 'Fran Bow: Original Soundtrack'

"Come with us" – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 'Come with us (Single)'

"Something Good" – Alt-J, 'An Awesome Wave'

"Heathens" – Vitamin String Quartet (Originally by Twenty One Pilots), 'VSQ Performs the Hits of 2016 Vol. 2'

"Loneliness" - Takanashi Yasuharu, 'Naruto: Shippuden'

"White Winter Hymnal" – Fleet Foxes, 'Fleet Foxes'

"Sucker for Pain" – Wiz Khalifa, Imagine Dragons, Logic and Ty Dolla Sign feat. X Ambassadors, 'Suicide Squad The Album'

"Unforgiven" – Two Steps from Hell, 'Battlecry'

"Kami-Sama Onegai" – Hanae, '神様はじめました/神様お願い '

"Wolf & I" – Oh Land, 'Oh Land'

"Fuyu ni Saku, Kiseki no Sakura" – Kohei Tanaka and Yasunori Iwasaki, 'One Piece OST: Movie 9'

"Harry's Sacrifice" – Alexandre Desplat, 'Harry Potter - The Deathly Hallows Part II'

"I Believe In A Thing Called Love" – The Darkness, 'Permission To Land'

* * *

 **Author's Trivia:**

* * *

1\. "Isola Giungla" literally translates from Italian into English as "Jungle Island", or so Google Translate tells me. If there are any readers who know/speak/are Italian, feel free to correct me or give me a pat on the back.

2\. Hideki is incredibly tall- there are still those in OP who are even larger, but eight foot and eight inches isn't exactly normal considering Hari and Li-Anne are relatively tiny for that world. His name with certain Japanese characters can translate to 'excellence' and 'timber trees', and wasn't it ironic that I had him eat the Ki Ki no Mi (lit. 'Tree Tree' fruit)? It's almost like I planned it.

3\. Think of Hideki as Morinozuka Takashi from 'Ouran Highschool Host Club', except with longer, more untamed hair and no training in Martial Arts whatsoever.

4\. I had a lecturer named Elena during my first year of University. She liked wearing scarves and biker jackets, and had Italian heritage.

5\. Blue roses symbolise the unattainable or impossible. Elena(OC) always wanted change to occur in her daily life, or in her husband- she favoured those flowers. See, I can do symbolism.

6\. I have a list of stupid stuff I want Hari to do. Check out the Tumblr page listed on my Bio to see it.

7\. Oda-Sensei based the Supernova Eustass 'Captain' Kidd off of two pirates from history- one of which being William Kidd. (W.)Kidd formed a mutiny, overtook, and then renamed the ship he was on. His piracy acts were few, but he gained notoriety by trying to clear his name from false accusations upon him; something which Eustass Kidd most likely wouldn't do. William Kidd- and those who mutinied with him, first sailed to 'Nevis', a British Colony and small island in the Caribbean Sea. I wanted the Nevis Island in 'Pom-Pom Pom!' to relate to the Kidd Pirates massacre Shaky mentions when the Straw Hats reach Sabaody. Unfortunately, not much detail is given in canon- so I got " _creative"_. Nevis Island also takes inspiration from Ben Nevis- a summit in Scotland that looks amazing covered in snow; hence why Nevis Island is a winter island on Grand Line.

8\. "White Winter Hymnal" by Fleet Foxes (which is on the playlist above), ALWAYS makes me think of Christmas.

9\. I caught up to the most recent OP Arcs. Cora-Saaaaan~ ｡･ﾟﾟ･(;д;)･ﾟﾟ･｡

10\. '#IshiSaysRelax' has to be a thing. _**Please let it be a thing!**_

11\. Who hasn't heard that The Darkness song on the Playlist above in years? I certainly haven't. Can you believe it's been 13 years since that was released?! I feel old…

12\. I don't think this story is going to be a romance… there are romantic subplots and a bit of innuendo/flirtatious themes, and obviously Ishi resembles a marble masterpiece from a museum, but I think it'll stop there. I usually work in the romance-humour genres, so I thought; 'Nay! Pray do something else!'. I have got some things to work into the plot (and by Heaven help me with the next Arc, because I don't think it'll fit succinctly into 20,000 words), but romance won't be one of them. I'm always open to 'What if?' Omakes, or fan fics of my own story. Actually, I've never had one of the latter before, I don't think. Hint Hint…?

13\. It took me so long to write Episode Six, I'm not even kidding. I sort of lost enthusiasm for a while and got distracted by the 'Kuroko no Basuke' fandom (again), and the 'Yuri! On ICE' fandom may have taken me skating- but I got it finished in the end. I suck at fight scenes, so that put me off right away. I hope you enjoy the toils of my personal suffering, because there's more to come in Arc Three.

* * *

 **Character Profiles:**

 **(In order of appearance…)**

* * *

 **Hari**

Age 19, daughter of Argyle. Now the Captain of Junky, Li-Anne's Junk ship, though remains an extremely good seamstress and tailor.

 **Pat**

Age unknown, manager of the new Doskoi Panda store in Logue Town. Suspected Arsonist.

 **Argyle**

Hari's father and the establisher of Argyle's Boutique and Haberdashery. Deceased three years before the start of 'Pom-Pom Pom!'

 **Li-Anne**

Age 32, background currently unknown. Navigator, Mechanic and Chef of Junky.

 **Chieftain Coquelicot**

Middle aged, Chieftain of Pastello Island. 'Coquelicot ' is a shade of red, and originally the vernacular French name for wild red corn poppies. Say it with me now: "Coke-lee-ko'.

 **Carnation 'Cana'**

Age 16, daughter of Coquelicot and Darling. Supposedly in love with Lucien. From the top of my memory, most associations with 'Carnation' in flower language is good; usually dealing with affection, love, and luck.

 **Miriam**

Age unknown, runs a bar on Pastello Island. Was the one to invent a self- temperature-regulating tray for drinks.

 **Lucien**

Age 26, Marine Commodore Lucien stationed at the entrance of Grand Line. Does some shady stuff in the name of Justice. His other titles include 'Skirt chaser' and he may or may not have a thing for Doskoi Panda clothing which spangles.

 **Darling**

Middle aged, wife of Coquelicot and mother of Carnation. Darling is the chief weaponry inventor, and created most of Pastello Islands defence mechanisms.

 **Hideki Inoue**

Age 17, wielder of the Ki Ki no Mi (Type: Paramecia) and a native of Isola Giungla- Grand Line. Eldest son of Taichi and Elena Inoue, older brother of Jun and the third member of the Pom-Pom Pirates.

 **Taichi Inoue**

Middle aged. Runs a successful Den-Den Mushi company and has trade links on Grand Line and in the four Blues. Husband of Elena and father of Hideki and Jun.

 **Elena Inoue**

Middle aged. Wife of Taichi and mother to Hideki and Jun. Is tired of being chained to the house and is in desperate need of a new apron. Fiercely protective of Hideki. Lover of blue roses.

 **Jun Inoue**

In his mid-teens. Eats a lot (blame hormones), and is set to inherit his father's company.

 **Marvin**

One hell of a rookie Den-Den Mushi. Sports a candy-coloured, rainbow striped shell.

 **Killer**

'Massacre Soldier' Killer, of the Kidd Pirates. Needs the buttons sewing back onto his shirt, but missed a prime opportunity in Episode 5…

 **Kidd**

'Captain' Eustass Kidd, Captain of the Kid Pirates.

 **Marine Lieutenant Hara**

He's inept and unassuming in most ways. But he tries his best, bless him.

 **Marine Captain Ishi**

In his early to mid-twenties and already a rising star in the Marine ranks. Wielder of the Oni Oni no Mi (Type: Paramecia) Needs to relax more...

 **Dave, Frank and Harold**

Subordinates of Marine Captain Ishi, and are, respectively, awesome, not so awesome, and quite possibly now traumatised for life.


	7. Episode 7

**DISCLAIMER:** All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.

* * *

 **My thanks to** _EverlastingProcrastinator_ **for Beta-ing this chapter.**

* * *

 **Why not check my Tumblr blog for more behind the scenes posts, artwork, and sneak-peaks about this new story, and even some of my other works on Fan Fiction and A03? You'll find me as** _yuilhan-from-ff_ **on that particular site!**

* * *

I am so sorry for how long I've been absent from this story. It's been a busy year for me, and my Beta and I have had a lot of stuff outside of Fan Fiction going on to deal with. So, sorry for the incredibly long wait, but here's Arc three.

I've drawn a lot of inspiration from certain references in this Arc. If you spot them all, leave your answers in a Review~!

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!"**

* * *

 **Arc Three:** _'Welcome to Hell…'_

* * *

 _Episode 7. A Mother's Journey! Reeled into the Borderlands!_

* * *

Elena Inoue was fuming. Currently living out of a suitcase and off her neighbour's charity, she knew that something must be done to sort out the currently unappealing predicament known as her life. Hideki's independence had finally blossomed. His roots had taken hold on a Pirate ship, and while Elena was deathly afraid for her son, she couldn't help but envy him for seizing freedom while he could.

She herself could have fled while pregnant with Jun, now that she had the time to think back on it. Stowing herself away on a visiting ship in the harbour, or more brazenly demanding that they take her as far away from the animal she called a husband's clutches would have been easily done considering the volume of trade Isola Giungla drew to it. But Elena, poor young Elena who was so in love with the man known as Taichi Inoue, stubbornly held out until her sons were near fully grown. She remained chained and unhappy, knowing that while some part of her still did love the man she had agreed to marry all those years ago existed, it was now obscured by the dissatisfaction and resent that had built over a quarter of a centuries' worth of marriage.

'Does he make you happy?' Her mother had asked.

Not anymore Mother. Not anymore, she thought with a bitter twist of her lips. All Taichi had given her- apart from her children (the only redeeming quality Elena could find in her introspection), was oppression, ruin and an unearthly rage.

She was beyond anger. Her son had felt the need to bolt from his family, all because his father couldn't see past the self-imposed blinkers he'd quite happily placed over his eyes. Her youngest son, too enraptured with being an exact likeness of her father, could not be persuaded to leave the family home and join her for a fresh start. This didn't dissuade Elena to stop trying; she would attempt to lure her youngest away each time she entered the house to pack more of her belongings.

Jun was as obstinate as his father, it seemed. Requesting a swift divorce from the island Elders after Hideki's departure hadn't pushed Elena's case; though the Elders had humoured her request with prompt tentativeness, having never truly encountered a case quite like it before. Jun was all the more determined to remain with Taichi after that; Elena's husband taking custody of the teen. Elena, now free from her husband, had been offered the custody of Hideki. However, that wouldn't do a lick of good considering he was Mariejois-knows-where on the flipping ocean.

So Elena regretfully packed her bags and stayed for a couple of weeks at a time with her closest neighbours, who tolerated her now estranged existence on the island she had lived on for most of her life. This was the island she had built a family upon, and the island that had eventually destroyed her family. Knowing that Taichi and Jun were to be cut from her life (with only the barest of connections remaining with her second born), Elena simply grit her teeth, tightened the strings of the new apron she had bought herself from the market, and asked around the local ports for a ship going absolutely anywhere away from Isola Giungla. Two months of living off her friends' good will, of scraping and bowing and hoping they didn't get fed up with her and throw her out onto the street, passed in a blur. Then, she found herself deep in the bowels of a warship. Sat adjacent from her behind a large desk was a man possibly carved from stone. Elena willed herself not to fidget unbecomingly, even as the harshly set shape of his eyes surveyed her.

"We can offer you passage, Ma'am," the Marine intoned, his fine features catching the light streaming through the porthole in his office on the ship. "Though, might I ask why you've come to us for aid, and not a Merchant vessel?"

"If I may speak frankly, Captain Ishi-"

"Please do."

"-the first reason is that my husband is a devious bastard. He's driven our first son away with his views, and I can't take it anymore. A fresh start will do me some good, I believe," Elena finished with an impassioned nod.

If Marine Captain Ishi were surprised at the woman's venomous tone, he didn't show it. Raising a shapely eyebrow, he inquired; "And your second reason for joining us?"

"Half of your men look like they haven't seen a square meal in weeks- I've run a household for longer than you've been alive, Captain. I can keep them fed and healthy on a budget," Elena brushed nonexistent lint off her new apron.

"You can blame Lieutenant Hara for our men's malnourishment," Ishi replied with a wry twist of his lips as the Lieutenant in question began to squirm beside his Captain's desk. It had been one month since the Pom-Pom Pirates had eluded them on Nevis Island; the journey to a Marine-favoured trading port and relative safety cost them a month's worth of time dedicated to hunting down the ridiculous trio and their junk ship. Though irritated he could not pursue, especially after he underestimated the Pirate crew's ingenuity, Ishi knew not to push his crew. They needed rest and recovery; things they could not achieve by exhausting the limited supplies they had aboard the ship. "Perhaps if we hadn't wasted the funded ammunition, and both my and the crew's pay checks in doing so, we'd have more food and not a potential mutiny on our hands."

"I am sorry about that, Sir," Hara wrung his hands, "But I need the practice. I'm trying very hard…"

If Marine Captain Ishi murmured a 'Oh, you're very trying' under his breath, Elena didn't acknowledge it. After all, Hara had just proven how much this crew needed her in their kitchen. Closing fast on middle agedness, Elena supposed she needed this crew and their kitchen too. The fact that she was damn good with a frying pan and spatula also helped augment her case.

Ishi thought for a while with his fingers steepled under his chin. Hara squirmed, expecting something of a pacifying comment to pass his Captain's cupid bow lips yet hearing nothing. Elena watched with morbid fascination as the Lieutenant began to sweat profusely.

Elena cleared her throat impatiently when Ishi's stillness began to unnerve her. The man looked as though he were mapping out and solving a difficult mathematical equation in his brain- which, for the amount of time he had fallen silent, could have been a possibility.

Ishi snapped away from his reverie; "I suppose we could take you on. There might not be a wage for you as of yet-" not that is bothered her. Unpaid but away from Taichi worked just as well for her, and it wasn't a direct dismissal of no wages, "-and we'll have to get you registered and in an official uniform at the next Marine base we encounter, but if you're willing to join us… Welcome aboard."

"Thank you Sir," Elena said, sagging with relief. "Is there anything you'll need from the island before we disembark?"

"We need the usual; food and medical supplies- the former of which you'll be in charge of collecting at each island we stop at, along with a few men to help carry the supplies. There isn't enough money to spare for luxuries, or… re-r-uh," Ishi broke off from his speech, tongue tangling.

"'Relaxation', Sir?" Hara chimed, standing to attention.

Ishi's hands gripped the edge of his desk with such force than Elena was sure the wood would splinter under his sculpted hands; "Right. _That_ word."

"There isn't enough left to spend for that, though Kami knows we need it- and a new Transponder Snail," Captain Ishi griped, running his hands through his shock of grey hair. The conversations across the old Den-Den Mushi were becoming even more incomprehensible and absurd. Ishi was certain he spoke to Sengoku's goat for a good twenty minutes the other day, and not the Fleet Admiral himself.

"I think," Elena grinned slyly, "That I may be able to help you with that last part."

* * *

Before Elena's fateful meeting with Marine Captain Ishi on Isola Giungla- in fact, a whole two months before that day, the motley assemblage of the Pom-Pom Pirates had frozen in fear inside their ship's kitchen.

Li-Anne caught the faint cry of the News Coo bird leaving. Frantically, she scooped up the paper and bounty posters and sped off after the delivery bird.

"Oi!" She bellowed, the bird wobbling in the air as the full force of her shout distracted it's flying. "This can't be right- I mean I maybe deserve my poster - HEY! Get back here!"

Hari and Hideki, who had scrambled after their Navigator, watched on as the bird flew as fast as it could away from a ranting Li-Anne; the latter of which had decided to share her extensive knowledge of the expletives she had gathered when touring the Blues. It was enough to make poor Hideki blush under all his hair.

"The next time one of those birds come near us, or in our line of sight," Li-Anne growled, turning sharply on her heel and stalking back into Junky's cabin, "We're shootin' it down."

Hideki looked worriedly to his Captain, who stared back in bemusement.

"I don't think she really means it, Hideki," Hari told him with a shrug and sauntered after the Navigator.

"I do too!" Li-Anne snapped. She had spread the posters out onto the kitchen table, lining five up into a perfect line. The newspaper the papers had been enclosed within lay screwed up in a ball by the larder door.

"It's one way of getting' them to stop circulatin' these- can't deliver if all of the birds go missin' after all," Li-Anne muttered darkly, and Hideki made sure to ever so slightly creep behind the protective form of his Captain. If she was shoved forward by him doing so, closer to a scheming Li-Anne, then all the better. Better Hari, who had more of a chance of halting Li-Anne's pre-mediated plan to rid Grand Line of News Coo birds, than himself. Li-Anne's temper, for someone so small, was explosive. Perhaps, Hideki pondered, it was because it didn't have much space to circulate- so instead her irritation charged until…

Li-Anne slapped her hands down on the table. The five posters that stared eerily up at ceiling of Junky's cabin jostled slightly. Three of these bounty posters belonged to the Pom-Pom Pirates. The remaining two belonged respectively to 'Captain' Eustass Kidd and 'Massacre Soldier' Killer.

"Well, it's nice to see that Ishi was listening to me after all and not just wrapped up in capturing pirates," Hari said contemplatively. She tapped the moniker on Killer's poster with her index finger. "Though I can't say it isn't fitting for him."

"What about you then," Li-Anne chimed, pinching the corners of Hari's bounty poster and holding it aloft; "'Saihō-shi' Hari, worth β20,000 dead or alive."

Hari reddened; "At least they're somewhat right. It was my profession after all- still is, kind of."

"A bit uncreative though, isn't it? 'Seamstress'?"

"… Captain fights with needles though…"

Li-Anne's eyebrow twitched; "Chatty now, ain't we? 'Sairento Mori' Hideki? Still β15,000 isn't to be sniffed at."

Hideki hunched in on himself, Hari giving the teen an absent pat on the arm.

"How bad is yours then?" Hari asked Li-Anne. The elder woman quickly hid her own bounty poster behind her back. "That isn't fair, Li-Anne. You got to read ours before us, told us of our monikers first- so why withhold your own? Surely it's only fair that we know of it."

"That would be fair, yes," Li-Anne pandered, "But I'm not goin' to tell you."

The Navigator wedged herself behind the table, successfully distancing herself from Hari as she shuffled closer- hand outstretched to rip the crumpled paper form the older woman.

Hari tensed. Li-Anne flinched slightly in response. Hari lunged-

"Ah- _HA_! 'Aunty Brat' Li-Anne, worth β17,000!" Hari flapped the bounty poster in the air triumphantly as well as she could whilst sprawled inelegantly over the kitchen table. Li-Anne flushed from head to toe.

"You're not the only one who they were listenin' to, it appears," she muttered, snatching the paper back. Li-Anne sighed, placing her bounty back on the table and smoothing out the newly made creases with her fingers. "How, after only three months of sailin' around, did we manage to gain this kind of attention? I guess we did fu-" (Hari's habit of censoring herself around those with younger ears had begun to rub off on Li-Anne, for she quickly changed her lexical choice) "-feck up on Nevis. I was hopin' for a minimum of six months though before anythin'-"

Marvin the transponder snail made a very noisy gasp- soon followed by an incredibly audible gulp. Then, he broke into trilling; announcing that there was a call waiting on the line.

"I ain't answerin' that," Li-Anne told Hari and Hideki definitively.

"Couldn't we just ignore it?" Hari wondered. Marvin made a pained keen between each ominous ring in response. "I guess not… Sorry bud…"

The Captain of the Pom-Pom Pirates turned to her newest recruit; "She's your mother," she said.

"…" Hideki shakily held up a clenched fist expectantly.

"You want to play Rock, Paper, Scissors to try and get out of this?" Hideki nodded. Marvin was becoming more desperate by the minute- the trill of his call increasing in pitch the longer they withheld answering. The poor snail had gone positively cross eyed in attempting to halt the call from one angry mother; sweat gleamed on his banded shell.

"You're on," Hari bit her lip, raising her own fist.

She lost: "Shi-Shitake mushrooms!" She corrected, with a quick glance to the younger male.

"Best out of three?" Hari whimpered, her shoulders slumped in defeat. Hideki merely shook his head and pointed to the distressed Den-Den Mushi. "Here goes nothing then…"

Hari answered the call, and the wrath of Elena Inoue filled Junky's kitchen. The crew dove for cover- as though the woman could somehow transport her livid body via sound into the room. Luckily for them, Elena's voice could only temporarily possess Marvin; much to the relief of the trio.

 _"HOW IN THE NAME OF ONE PIECE DID YOU EVEN MANAGE TO PUT MY SON ON A WANTED LIST AFTER ONLY A MONTH?!"_ Elena Screeched. Heavy panting could be heard from the woman's side of the line. After reigning in her temper somewhat, Elena continued:

 _"I thought I told you to keep my son safe,"_ she ground out, Marvin gnashing his teeth together to mimic the behaviour exhibited back on Isola Giungla.

Li-Anne huffed, "He was safe-"

 _"Then how do you explain-"_

"I _SAID!"_ Li-Anne interjected loudly before Elena could have free reign of her rage once more, "I said that we were safe. We ended up on Nevis- four weeks away from you, right? Well, we got there second, discovered the mayhem another Pirate crew had made, and ended up fleeing from Marines. Your son-" here, Li-Anne's lip curled, "is perfectly fine. Hari was bashed about the most, and we've all come away mainly unscathed."

 _"But you promised me that-"_ Elena began to sputter.

"He can never be truly safe," Hari spoke softly, "We all can't. We were hoping to avoid any attention and just sail, but that's gone well and truly down the pan. We were lucky to get away as we did, if not from the Marines but the Pirates already at the island."

There was a heavy silence; it had been noted in the news that not one soul had survived the massacre of Nevis Island apart from the perpetrators, the Pom-Pom Pirates and the Marines. Hideki slowly outstretched a hand towards the deflated expression Marvin channelled, knowing that his own mother's face carried such heartbreak on it so clearly.

 _"I see,"_ Elena's voice sounded lowly, then the call disconnected. Hideki's hand retracted and closely placed itself by his side- as though to restrain itself from taking control and to quench the urge to paddle with the ridiculous rubber ring back to his home island.

Elena did eventually call them back a few days later; she blubbered through the Den-Den Mushi to Hideki, and Hideki only. Both she, Li-Anne and Hari steering well clear of each other during the calls. To be clear, there was no animosity between them- a certain resentment on Elena's behalf for allowing her son to slip away from her so easily, or perhaps, even escaping without her. But the tension that resided between the two female Pom-Pom Pirates and Elena Inoue was merely that of awkwardness; how does one move on from a conversation of false accusations and denials of said accusations without incurring yet another colossal disagreement?

It was for the best that any incoming transponder snail calls that could be heard meant that Hari and Li-Anne were to vacate the kitchen. It meant that during Hideki's calls the two could keep an eye on what was going on around them on the open ocean, and that they could organise routine spars to improve upon the cluster of lucky chances they had been granted on Nevis Island.

They stopped for a short while on Gardiner's Island. A small and uninhabited (though rather pleasant) island, brimming with vegetation and signposted only by previous travellers who had carved the name into a rotting wooden sign. Continuing the trend of short Log Pose setting times, their stay of an hour provided Hideki with enough time to run his hands over the plants, trees and flowers, taking note of their specific samples with his Akuma no Mi abilities. If a particularly useful plant cropped up in his short wanderings around the Gardiner's Island, he would also take a small clipping so that Li-Anne and Hari could cultivate it if he was indisposed.

With Li-Anne's go ahead, and a quick chat with the wooden ship (running his hands across the railings persuasively as he asked for affirmation from the wood Junky was crafted), he could establish a small and orderly garden on top of the ship's cabin. Herbs, vegetables and fruits, fresh and grown by himself with a little bit of help from the cursed fruit would be available always and not just when they happened across an island. As if his crew mates would deny him this! Li-Anne was positively gleeful at the money she could save from the supply fees, and wondered why she hadn't thought of this at all in her years of traveling solo.

So came to pass another month of this regime; Hari and Li-Anne slipping away and drawing their weapons while Hideki talked with his mother or tended to the quickly growing garden on top of the cabin. That is, until one evening Hideki rushed from the cabin- solidly bonking his forehead against the low door frame he usually tried so hard to avoid hitting, and deliriously announced that his mother had left the island to cook for the Marines.

Li-Anne dropped her mallet on her foot in surprise; "FUC-"

Hari coughed loudly, willing the Darling-modified and enlarged beading needle and pearl head pin she had in her hands to shrink back to their smaller functional size.

Marvin the Den-Den Mushi crept from the cabin also, clearly mid-call with Elena.

"You did what!" Li-Anne screeched when Elena further elaborate don what Hideki had hurriedly blurted. "Do you have any idea who that bloke is?!"

 _"I left the island I made my family on because I was unhappy, and didn't care who it was with as long as I was away from that toxic place. Do I have to explain myself any clearer? Because I haven't got all day to stop and chat you know- I've got potatoes and veg to be peeling,"_ Elena's exasperated tone crackled through the Den-Den Mushi.

"Not disputing that you aren't in a better situation now, Ma'am, at least, for yourself… but Captain Ishi is the one we had a run in with back on Nevis Island," Hari calmly intoned as Li-Anne fumed by Junky's wheel. Hideki stood by, nervously watching the proceedings.

 _"I couldn't just leave them to starve,"_ came Elena's voice once again, though her earlier strong tone had wavered slightly. _"They needed my help, and I offered it to them. Plus, I managed to provide them with Taichi's best transponder snails before I set the rest loose across the island."_

Li-Anne's temper rose; "So you couldn't jus' leave them there, huh? Had to mother someone else now that you're no longer wanted and you've got no one else to smother?! At least you'll be happy when your Captain has us all in chains and Hari's missin' her head!"

There was silence on the ship and across the line.

"…Bit too far, Li-Anne," Hari grumbled, rubbing at the mentioned appendage. The Marines had not made it a trend to publicly execute Pirates, outside of Gol D. Roger that is. One could never be too careful though, and it was the likely scenario Hari and the others would find themselves in considering how their journey had gone so far. At this point, the sky began to quickly darken; fat droplets of rain beginning to pelt the open ocean and the deck of the ship.

"Right," Hari clapped her hands together, "Looks like we've got a storm coming on so we'll have to call you-"

The call disconnected, Marvin's eye's comically widening; "… back… Elena? Hello?"

The wind had begun to whip about wildly, rocking the boat strategically. Li-Anne wrestled with the wheel, even going so far as to put the ship into reverse gear to combat the intense pull of a current unknown to their course while Hideki fiddled with keeping the sails under control.

"I can't hold it!" Li-Anne cried over the roaring waves, "Whatever this is is pullin' me in, turnin' the wheel doesn't even touch it!"

They tried countless times to leave the current they had been forcefully drawn into, Hideki's strong vines twisted together to form a buffer not alleviating the vigour the ocean guided them with. Eventually, Li-Anne simply let go of the wheel.

"Look," she stated, when Hari and Hideki gaped at her in horror, "I'm not the one steerin' this ship any more. Therefore, there's no point in me standin' here actin' like I am."

So the trio stood and waited, the almost inaudible crackle of white noise from Marvin the only interruption from their anxious silence. Evidently, the call had not been dropped on Elena's end, and she was no doubt desperately trying to diagnose why she could no longer contact the Pirates despite the call still running. Not long afterwards, a blip on the horizon came into view; and the three pirates knew that whatever- whoever, waited for them there was behind the cause of the strange Den-Den Mushi activity and the magnetic pull of their ship towards the next destination their Log Pose had chosen.

"I think whatever's messing with Junky is affecting Marvin… Do you think there's any way of knocking him out?" Hari asked- Marvin looked a bit peaky. Though they had placed the receiver back, and assumed that Elena had done the same, Marvin still appeared relatively shaken by the call.

"…Pressure points…?" Hideki wondered aloud.

Li-Anne snorted. "Go ahead, karate-chop the snail," she said dryly with a wave of her hand to a still-dazed Marvin.

Junky sailed independently for a further forty minutes; the crew stood and watched on numbly, Marvin dithering by the Cabin where he'd been wrapped in a cocoon of blankets. Whatever had been disrupting his signal lessened as they sailed ever closer to the next island. The blip on the horizon they had seen earlier was not so much of a tiny dot anymore… it was, in truth, a size that could outshine even Impel Down. A bleak outer wall, fortified with thick stone, barricaded what lay within from the outside world. Littered roughly halfway up, along the circumference of this mysterious destination immovable stone creatures huddled judgingly. The same style of creatures were situated on top of the great stone walls- eyes forever watching for unsuspecting travellers in the distance. The ship drew closer to the colossal walls, passing through a minuscule gap and under a wrought iron sign that was once, most likely, a functioning pair of gates.

"'S' Kingdo'?" Hari intoned with bemusement as she read the letters lining the arch of the metal gates. "Guess that's where we are now, then."

With the wall and the gates behind them, the landscape revealed yet more concentric walls inside- each smaller than the last, though the Crew were yet to know this. A patchwork town of salvaged material rose above the ocean on rickety stilts. Boats lined the edges of the roughly hewn walkways- tied with ropes crafted from multi-coloured rags, twine, and frayed portions of heavy duty rope to keep them from bobbing away. A bell chimed alarmingly in the distance; people in mottled, earthly shades of clothing crowded to the docked boats and watching with interest as the Pom-Pom Pirates sailed within touching distance. They were care-worn, raggedy and thin, but appeared welcoming enough- delightful smiles gracing their faces. The very same smiles didn't quite meet their eyes.

The current relinquished its hold, and the crew set about organising dropping the sails and anchor.

"Er… Hello?" Hari called over the railing, scanning the crowd for someone- anyone, who looked like they were supposed to be in charge.

"Hallo there!" A man cried as he stepped forward. He was bright in both appearance and manner; his light grey hair luminously reflecting the limited sunshine that made it over the towering walls. The crowd parted for him, and he swept along this passageway; the long hem of his grey tunic dragging along the splinters. The trio were graced with a bright smile that caused the deep furrows on his face to crinkle pleasantly; "Welcome, welcome!" He crowed jovially, and the crowd receded with a commanding flick of his wrist.

Hari, Hideki and Li-Anne scrambled from the ship now that a space had cleared, and tried to stand as gingerly as they could on the rickety walkways.

"So, this is S'Kingdo?" Hari questions, taking the honey toned hand the man extended to her to shake. He offered the same exuberant courtesy to her crew mates.

"Ah," the man replied sheepishly, "Shi's Kingdom, actually. Most of the letters fell off about twenty years ago and floated away before we could rescue them. We've not exactly had the resources to replace them, I'm afraid, so the name is a common misconception…"

A red faced and mortified Hari shuffled behind Li-Anne and Hideki, eager to have someone else talk before she needlessly put her foot in it again.

"I am Sparrow. I'm a sort-of leader here in the Borderlands, though there are three more who maintain the peace in the other factions of this level," Sparrow informed them.

"Li-Anne," said woman introduced. "And this is Hideki and Hari."

"Pleasure to meet you," Sparrow chirruped with a glint in his eye that could rival a magpie's.

"What was that current?" Li-Anne questioned, folding her arms across her body. "I've never experienced anythin' like it before- and I've done a lot of sailin' in my time."

Sparrow rubbed the back of his neck wearily, "You see… Shi's Kingdom has a bit of a reputation among travellers, or well, the one's that make it out- which is few. The current is unavoidable, and for those who are unlucky enough to be snagged by it end up here."

Hideki and Hari, captivated by the story, shuffled in closer to listen. Li-Anne rose a shapely blonde eyebrow, flicking one curling pigtail over her shoulder; "So?"

"There is no going back, the current will just transport you here again, so many people become stranded in the Borderlands," Sparrow replied solemnly. Li-Anne's focus flicked to the Log Pose strapped to her wrist. While somewhat calmer in its revolutions than earlier, the needle still span in the reinforced glass globe. So, they were in the right place just not exactly there yet.

Hari gasped, "There has to be some way out though, surely?"

Sparrow tensed, but nodded gravely, "Indeed, though I wouldn't recommend its perils."

Taking the initiative, Li-Anne spun on her heel and marched back to the side of the ship. Hari and Hideki trundled behind their Navigator, casting worried glances over their shoulders at Sparrow. Li-Anne tapped the Log Pose, and relayed her earlier thoughts.

"Hideki, give me a boost- we're leavin'," Li-Anne snapped. Conscious of her black mood and the signs the Pose was exhibiting, Hideki did as she asked promptly and without question. "Shi's Kingdom my arse, as if I'm gonna' wait here for death when the Log says I can chance my arm at escapin'."

"Whoa, 'death'? Nobody said anything about that!" Hari whined.

"What, because 'perils' didn't give it away, Captain?" Li-Anne scoffed. "We try to leave or we rot. Put it this way; we leave and you never get bored, or we stay and you become antsy enough that no new pieces of sewing equipment will ever solve the fidgetin'."

"We're leaving, pronto," Hari bit.

Hideki boosted her aboard, then flung himself over the railings and sharply halted. Hw cleared his throat, pointing the huddled figures trampling on top of the cabin through his makeshift allotment. Their tunics pulled well above their knees, the children greedily filled the sagging hammock the fabric made with fresh fruits and vegetables, almost stripping the small garden bare.

"Oi! Gerr'ough my ship!" Li-Anne fumed, and the children scuttled away to the uneven docks. Biting her lip sharply to hold in her anger, Li-Anne started the ship's motor and manoeuvred it so that the Junky's bow faced the gateway. Sparrow serenely observed as the ship was pushed against the currents- the very tip of the hull inching its way past the gates as Li-Anne struggled to control the forwards movement. Yet it was all for naught, and her feral screeching could be heard throughout the Borderlands as the ship was calmly dragged to the docks again by the currents.

"I have already told you that you cannot go back," Sparrow called from the docks, nibbling on a handful of ripe berries the children had swiped from Hideki's allotment. The crowd was back, clamouring with excitement at the three foolish Pirates fruitlessly trying to escape Shi's Kingdom. Li-Anne sunk to her knees on the deck, her delicate hands loosely gripping the ship's steering wheel and gear stick. "You are certainly most welcome to join us though, should you not wish to continue onwards. We're very forgiving of those who have only just joined our community, as it is always likely you'll have problems… adjusting."

The ripe berries had stained his teeth red.

Restless, the crowding people reached with grasping hands as the children distributed morsels of the brightly coloured fruit. The docks and town had been built directly in front of the next gateway, to what lay beyond the first level of Shi's Kingdom. Obviously, no one had passed through there in a long time, and rising population demanded the people of the Borderlands to expand their housing territories. Behind the precariously built houses awaited another iron barrier set in a high stone wall. The gates gaped widely, yet no one dared to pass the boundary despite its openness. A numeral- 'II', was carved into a crest littered with planetoids. It taunted the three Pirates. The next level was so close- but would others be so easy to reach?

The thing about Shi's Kingdom, to those who have lived through all its perilous Levels, is that this is exactly what the aptly named Kingdom of Death wishes for you to do. You can taste the freedom clearer when traversing level after level- but there is no guarantee you will escape its influence, whether alive inside its walls or dead. The entire structure of this island is toxic to those who wander amongst its landscape...

"I'm not givin' up," Li-Anne said lowly, her hands taking a firm grip on the wheel. "Not now. We're movin' onwards, right?"

She stood slowly, questioning her crew mate and Captain as to whether they would join her should she choose to go onwards with but a determined glance. They nodded in ascent.

"Good. Didn't want to have t'leave you behind now of all times…"

"You're foolish if you pass beyond the Borderlands! We do not know what is beyond and there is no coming back," Sparrow bellowed frantically. The juice of the berries he held in his palm had stained the skin red- and his teeth still glinted with a rosy blemish. "You'll get yourselves killed- I beseech you to stay, please!"

Sparrow and those who settled in the Borderlands, or rather, level one of Shi's Kingdom, were not to be belittled. They stayed and made lives for themselves as well as they could on the outermost level- struggled to survive as the population grew and grew. They weren't cowards for not daring to traverse the deeper levels at all. In fact, it was brave of them to have hope in the small beginnings of the Borderlands. But that does not mean that Sparrow and his people's belief that those who passed on to higher levels was not misguided; many of those they had tried (and failed) to stop had passed through successfully, though the experience had doggedly haunted their lives.

In order to remain the free wanderers of the sea they had become, Hari, Li-Anne and Hideki would all have to traverse the Levels of Shi's Kingdom. That, and try to make it out in one piece.

"Lets get this over and done with then, eh?" Hari said with a thin smile, friendly digging Li-Anne in the ribs gently with her elbow. The elder woman simply drew her left hand tightly into a fist and dug it in her Captain's stomach. Hard.

"Ow! Captain abuse- Captain abuse," Hari moaned, rubbing her stomach.

Bracing themselves, Hideki and Hari waited while Li-Anne turned the ship around to face the Borderland Town, and backed Junky up as far as she could without the current taking hold of them once more. Only then did she allow the ship to shoot forwards- flinging it upwards through gears as they gained more and more speed. Concerned, Sparrow urged those under his jurisdiction to scatter- though many also plunged into the water to evade the oncoming ship as it barrelled through the wooden walkways and homes in front of Level Two, as did the assumed leader of the front-most Borderlands.

* * *

 **Further conformation on the Wanted poster names; 'Saiho-shi Hari' (lit. 'Seamstress Needle'- punny no?) and 'Sairento Mori' (lit. 'Silent Forest), and 'Aunty Brat' (sounds like 'Anti- Brat'; Li-Anne looks like a child but isn't, hence Anti or opposite. Yeah, I've put too much thought into this…)**


	8. Episode 8

**DISCLAIMER:** All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.

* * *

 **My thanks to** _EverlastingProcrastinator_ **for Beta-ing this chapter.**

* * *

 **I'm so sorry this Arc took ages to come out. EP and I have been super busy, and just got caught up with other things. Episode 9 and an Omake should be out soon, but for now, here's Episode 8!  
**

 **Why not check my Tumblr blog for more behind the scenes posts, artwork, and sneak-peaks about this new story, and even some of my other works on Fan Fiction and A03? You'll find me as** _yuilhan-from-ff_ **on that particular site!**

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 **"Pom-Pom Pom!"**

* * *

 **Arc Three:** 'Welcome to Hell…'

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 _Episode 8. Ascending the Levels! Did the Toilet just flush?_

* * *

"Does anyone else feel cold? Because I feel so cold," Hari whimpered, rubbing her forearms where her t-shirt sleeves exposed her now tanned skin.

"Also, why is this gateway taking forever for us to pass through?"

It had been five minutes or so since they had crashed through the wooden houses and walkways of the Borderlands, and since then they had entered through the entrance to Level Two they had been submerged in cloyingly cold darkness. Li-Anne warily gripped Junky's steering wheel, but ever since they had passed into the awaiting darkness the current had once more seized the ship.

"Hari," Li-Anne inhaled through her nose sharply, "Calm down, you're makin' me nervous-"

"I am? Huh, usually I'm the only one who gets ant-"

"We know!" Li-Anne roared.

Sensibly, Hideki made his way to sit on top of Junky's cabin- a rather lethargic stretch and an easy scramble due to his height, whereas Hari struggled to tap the top of the doorframe with her fingertips and Li-Anne didn't bother to try.

There was enough room in the tunnel (because where else could they be other than in an incredibly long tunnel?) for the top of the masts not to be crushed. Ample room, in fact; the ship hadn't even touched the sides of the entrance to Level Two. It was strange. Other than the rustle of cold air and the sloshing waves rippling against the side of the ship, there was no noise- not even the pandemonium that they had left behind them in the Borderlands echoed through the tunnel.

Hari began to pace; "Does anyone else feel like we're tilting downwards? Because-"

"Please. Stop," Li-Anne pinched the bridge of her nose, "For the love of One Piece, stop."

"… No. We're going down…" Hideki intoned, rubbing his bare arms as the chill bit into his skin. Hari wasn't the only one caught out by the temperature, it would seem.

The ship began to pick up momentum, the tunnel steeply declining:

"Why didn't I have breaks fitted on this thing?!" Li-Anne moaned as the wheel began to shudder in her hands.

But then it stopped. The tunnel levelled out again. The pitch-black darkness slowly melded into luminous glowing light that stung their eyes- and the warmth… Comforting warmth filled the air, a foreign luxury mere minutes prior, now as subtle as suffocation.

"I think I'd rather be back in the tunnel," Hari sniffed, as their surroundings became more defined. An endless landscape of pink; baby pink, fuchsia, magenta, hot pink, rosy pink, dusky pink, pink pink pink-

Everything, bar the water they sailed on -which refracted back as coal black- was pink.

Hari made a mental note to remove the colour from her wardrobe, even though that would mean butchering parts of her clothes like the sleeves on the baseball tee she wore currently. While loathe to cut up perfectly good and well-made clothes, Hari's twitching eye as she surveyed Level Two of Shi's Kingdom sealed the grim fate of any pink items of clothing on the ship.

"… Log Pose?" asked Hideki, his voice tiredly rasping. The teen rubbed his eyes wearily, wishing the fuzzy pink glow Level Two emitted couldn't make it past the curtain of his fringe.

"Still spinnin'," Li-Anne replied with a short disappointed 'tsk'. The compass needle still whirred within the Log Pose, though the movement had slowed somewhat since they had entered Level Two. "Still fairly quick also…"

Hari cleared her throat; "So what does that mean?"

"It means," chirped a voice entirely foreign to the those on board the ship, "That you've got a long way to go before it stops~!"

Three expected piercing screams of surprise were joined by a fourth-

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Li-Anne yelled, wildly looking around for her mallet.

The voice belonged to a nymph-like girl. Her hair was (surprise) a milky pink, piled on her head in two perfectly round buns. Her face was childish in a way that Li-Anne's couldn't quite embody- too many hard years at sea and constant frowning had lined Li-Anne's youthful face. The girl's facial features were framed with soft curling tendrils of downy pink fringe.

The intruder had skin as smooth and clear as an antique porcelain dolls', and dressed in a similarly dated fashion. The full skirts, petticoats, puffed sleeves, ribbons and lace- not to mention the neatly patterned gossamer stockings that met polished kitten heels (all of which were in various shades of creamy pink), made this girl a living breathing doll.

Pristinely preserved and not allowed to be played with. Always admired but never taken as something more than aesthetically pleasing and despairingly fragile.

Even Hari, who had internally declared war on anything spawned from the spectrum one creates when mixing red and white, had to admit that this girl wore the colour well on her delicate body. That and her fashion tastes were soundly portrayed in the conscious clothing choices she had made.

"We-" the girl told them with a pompous flourish of her right hand as she laid it over her heart, "- are Lolita. Guardian Princess of the second Level of Shi's Kingdom."

"'Guardian Princess'?" Li-Anne mouthed to Hari with an amused roll of her eyes. "How did you get on the ship?"

Lolita bristled. "We saw that," she snipped, "And yes, yes We are. We're not actually ready to rule as Queen, so therefore We must be a Princess first, and We're on your ship because We want to be."

The dollish adolescent sniffed when Li-Anne protested that that wasn't a proper answer to her sudden appearance, her nose turned snootily to the rose-tinted sky of Level Two; "Did you not see Our tiara?"

Sure enough, on closer inspection (or rather, three sets of eyes squinting at a vision of endless pink), a quartz crystal tiara was nestled on Lolita's head- just above the soft curls of her fringe. Hari studied it closely; thick ropes of tempered rose-gold wire twisted together with chunky mismatched quartz stones placed in the semblance of a crown shape. Some of the smaller detailing jewels remained, though many were gone from where they had been adhered to the quartz stones. Evidently, this was a treasured possession; the wire had been stretched, misshapen and bent back into place to match the wearer's head shape. Lolita's tiara had been crafted lovingly; it was a possession she would never part from.

"It's lovely," Hari said truthfully, her love of handmade items and crafting resurfacing with a fond, longing swell in her chest. Not so long ago, she would be the one to provide people with the same enchanted expressions Lolita exhibited when they entered Argyle's haberdashery and boutique; and while Pirate life was less stressful (barring the Marines and certain other unsavoury characters) and certainly provided Hari with a never-ending source of adventure, she couldn't help but miss the little things that brightened her day. Being commissioned to sew christening robes, wedding dresses, couture pieces, costumes- heck, even the simple task of knitting socks all mattered when someone walked out of Argyle's shop with a smile on their face.

Hari shook her head to rid herself of the oncoming gloomy thoughts that always seemed to loom in her mind, "I guess you are the Guardian Princess of Level Two after all, so… what exactly do you do when travelers pass through?"

While the Pirates expected Lolita to have to mull on her response for a longer time than she did, the Guardian Princess replied with such utter surety that it was unnerving. Li-Anne was looking forward to scolding Hari with derision for trying to appeal to the delusional girl, but alas, was never given the chance. Hari, Hideki and Li-Anne could only gape as Lolita blasély scoffed: "We serve them tea."

The unvoiced snub on their intelligence- as though tea time was the first thing one prepared for unexpected guests, duh- ruffled Li-Anne's temper slightly. Feeling herself begin to bristle, the Navigator inquired where she could drop anchor if only to give her something to do. With the anchor lowered and the ship held to a grassy magenta bank with guide ropes, Lolita led the trio over gently sloping hill and through an orchard of blossom trees that had begun to lose their blooms, her gate tromping in the shoes she wore like a child in heels too high for them- that is, without the elegance her appearance suggested she possessed.

Hari swiftly tapped Hideki's hand when the teen discreetly tried to run his fingers over the dusky bark. 'No', she mouthed, when the younger crew member began to pout. Hari's eye had yet to stop twitching from all the pink, and Mariejois be damned if trees sporting the infernal colour began to sprout all over the ship.

Lolita made them stop walking not long after they had begun, rubbing at her heels where they had pinched the skin through her stockings.

"We think we'll take tea here," she said, and snapped her fingers. A finely dressed table, set for five with fine china (pink), cutlery (pink) and dainty pastries (also pink) appeared. Lolita stomped her way to the table, and waited expectantly to take her seat at its head. "Well, come on then- and will somebody showcase some manners and pull the chair out for Us?"

Li-Anne began to grind her teeth together as she watched Hideki do the honours.

"You can't sit there," Lolita exclaimed, when Hari tried to take the immediate seat on the girl's right side.

"O… kay?" Hari replied, shuffling along to the next seat adjacent to Li-Anne and Hideki. Lolita eyed a steaming pot of tea nearby, glancing at Hari as though to urge her to pour it. Hari, begrudgingly, obliged; pouring a precise amount of the deep fuchsia tea- yes, even consumable liquids were pink in Level Two- into Lolita's floral tea cups.

"Where did all this food come from?" Hari asked, as she and her companions were still reeling from the fact that a full meal could appear from thin air and they did not know about it. Honestly, how much easier would that be when sailing? No stopping for supplies or spending money. Such a thing, while completely helpful, could not come without a price.

Lolita sniffed; "We wished it here, and so it appeared."

"Wished it?"

"Wanted it!" The Guardian Princess corrected with a haughty tip of her nose to the air. "Desired it, needed it, coveted it- or whatever you want to call it."

Hari swivelled in her seat to speak to Lu-Anne; "Do you think Sparrow knew of this? How many people could benefit from-"

"Sparrow? Don't tell me that old kook is still alive! Ha! As if the first level could do any of this- filthy cowards. We would have thought he would be dead by now though," Lolita smiled arrogantly, bright cotton candy world they had ended up in darkening around the Pom-Pom Pirates to expose the rotten truth underneath the monotonous sugar coating.

Feeling goosebumps start to rise on her arms, Hari idly reached for her teacup that she had filled moments earlier. She raised it to her lips, anxious for something hot to drink when she heard it:

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud-

Li-Anne and Hideki sat bolt upright in shock as the chair next to Hari was drawn back, a gigantic figure settling into the tiny seat. The figure, with its twin curling horns pointing towards the dusky sky grunted, a thick rose-gold nose ring jingling with the action as they hefted a heavy battle axe from their back and let it drop to the grass with a thump. Hari whimpered, drawing the figure's attention.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you- especially if you've added the milk," their voice was as heavyset as their appearance, yet there were subtle undertones of femininity. "You have added milk, have you not?"

"Yeee-" Hari squeaked, "Yes."

"Good, don't drink it- and that goes for all of you. It's candle wax."

The three Pirates dropped their tea cups quicker than the News Coo birds dropped their papers off at the ship after Li-Anne's tirade.

Lolita tried to stomp her foot under the table, but instead bashed her knee against the table top; "Asterion! You ruin all of Our fun!" The girl cried, her eyes watering at the initial pain her stroppy behaviour had caused.

"Somebody has to keep you in line, my Princess," Asterion replied with a fond smile, collecting a frilly napkin and mopping away Lolita's crocodile tears, "And my instincts tell me that you didn't even ask your guests whether they would like to stay with us."

"You said you'd always be with Us," Lolita whined, blushing as Asterion continued her gentle ministrations with the napkin as fresh tears began to fall, "But all you do now is go and patrol the Level, and We are always alone."

Asterion sighed fondly, "That is still not an excuse for your behaviour. These travelers may not want to remain here forever, my Princess. On my rounds I heard a great commotion near the gateway from the Borderlands-" Lolita's nose crinkled in distaste, "-it appears that your guests had quite the messy getaway from Level One."

Lolita visibly brightened, gently slapping Asterion's hand away from her face so that she could beam at the trio of Pirates.

"G-giant bull…" Hari wheezed.

"I'm female, thank you very much," Asterion corrected lightly, "Though I do have some Minotaur-ish relatives alive somewhere, I believe."

Li-Anne, rubbing her temples as though to fend off the ferocious headache that was making her head spin from all the insanity she was submerged in, asked for more clarification; "What exactly do you mean the milk is candle wax? How does that make us stay- and for Roger's sake, explain about the Levels please!"

"I would have thought that Sparrow would have told you all that you need to know," Asterion told them softly, despite her bull-like appearance.

"What, the crock of bullshite about gettin' killed if we kept goin' through the Levels and that we'd be much safer with him."

Lolita snorted daintily, "He would tell you that. He wants to keep all of those who end up in Shi's Kingdom cooped up like caged budgies in that forsaken level."

"Battery hens, more like," Li-Anne snarled, "They looked starved to death."

"Mm," Lolita hummed, "We suppose. But it is only because they are not brave enough to try and pass on to other levels that their lives are hard. There's simply not enough space to accommodate them all. We can count on one hand the number of people that have passed through the gateway to my Level- excluding yourselves of course, and we've been here for a very long time as it is."

"… Long time?" Hideki mumbled.

"Yes," Lolita snipped, "We are older than We look."

"Ditto," Li-Anne groused.

Asterion took a large swig from her tea cup, "We- Lolita and myself, can drink what this Level offers to us because Lolita is a servant of Shi. She governs this level just as Sparrow governs his, and I am her retainer- therefore, I'm bound to her and the power she has been bestowed with."

"Sounds like some fantastical mumbo-jumbo," Li-Anne squinted. Asterion laughed pleasantly, her nose ring tinkling.

"I suppose it does, yes. Lolita means well in trying to make you drink, but should any of you consumed the tea you would be trapped here just as we both are. She loves fiercely, despite her behaviour…" Asterion drifted off, looking fondly at the Guardian Princess as she childishly toyed with a dainty cake on her plate. The Guardian's guardian shook her head before changing the subject altogether; "I believe that you mentioned passing through the higher levels?"

"Yes," Hari answered, also watching Lolita destroy yet another cake and feeling her stomach grumble, "Sparrow mentioned that you have to go through the other levels to truly leave."

Lolita looked up from her demolished fondant fancy cake. "True, but what he didn't tell you is that you will be tested in every level you reach. You've already passed two, seeing as the test We conducted was interrupted," here, the Guardian Princess glared lightly at her guard. "Each level is… thematic, We suppose. Nine levels each assigned a test to wheedle out those who aren't strong enough to battle against the worst traits in our races."

"Sparrow and his Borderlands," Lolita pronounced with derision, "Are the first test to siphon off those who aren't brave enough to try and leave or double back-"

"What happens if you double back?" Li-Anne interrupted, and was met with a terrifying grin on doll-like Princess' face.

"You drown if you're silly enough to go without a boat or try and force your way through," she said nonchalantly, selecting another cake from the layered platters on the dining table. "They are the one's living a petty existence; neither here or there, just wasting their breaths by living each day at a time. We could not stand to stay there, among the cowards, We desired more, but We only made it to Level Two before Our lust halted us. Even now, We want- though Asterion helps Us with Our needs and particular urges."

Asterion, finding the Princess batting her eyelashes to be a common occurrence, merely smiled; "I am bound to you, my Princess, and will assist you in any way possible."

Lolita giggled in response; a red-faced Hari and Hideki were herded away from the table by a disturbed Li-Anne.

"That's great and all," Li-Anne called, once she had shepherded the younger crew members a safe distance from the canoodling Princess and her Guard, "But can you tell us how to get to the next level, preferably before you start rippin' each other's clothes off?"

Lolita lazily waved her hand in the air, only for it to be captured by a doting Asterion; "We and Asterion shall escort you there tomor-oh!"

Asterion had begun to lovingly kiss the tips of the Guardian Princess' slender fingers-

"Okay-" Li-Anne whipped around and grabbed Hideki and Hari once more, "Back to the ship we go Kiddies."

Li-Anne did her best in dragging her two fellow, traumatised pirates away. It would seem that Elena- or Taiki, had been remiss in certain aspects of Hideki's education, and Hari…

Li-Anne sighed. Hari was a special case all on her own that she had no desire to tackle as of yet.

* * *

"… But she… looked too young…" Hideki protested, the tips of his ears bright red.

Hari curled her fingers around a steaming cup of tea- one which she could take full enjoyment in drinking as it came directly from the ship; "I'm not saying that kind of thing is right Hideki- and I certainly don't condone it, but Lolita may be like Li-Anne in the sense that she's stopped aging as quick as you or I. She's an adult- at least, and if they're both fine with her looking like a child's plaything then I guess it's fine. Don't forget Li-Anne's been in that situation too."

Hideki, mentally scarred after hearing of some of Li-Anne's youthful escapades the night before (which had been pried out of the elder woman on account of trying to sooth his intense blushing), could no longer look the Navigator directly in the eye.

"For the last time," Li-Anne huffed, flapping around a greasy spatula as she doled out crispy bacon and fried eggs for the two sat the kitchen table, "It was back when I was tryin' to embrace looking like a ten year-old instead of mopin' about it, and when she said that she liked playin' dress up I thought she meant costume stuff and was all acceptin', not like…well, kinky…"

"I'm sure," Hari grinned widely.

"Oh, says Miss 'I'm too dense to notice he was checking me out and not my spangly jeans'," Li-Anne scoffed. Hideki crammed a forkful of bacon into his mouth, silently watching the conversation unfold and hoping he'd perhaps choke from mortification.

"I thought we'd never speak of that again!" Hari gasped, blushing scarlet.

Li-Anne had opened her mouth to retort once more, but was interrupted by the sound of a thud and the boat rocking abruptly. "Oh great, the giant bull-woman and the nymphet are here."

"We heard that!"

"We won't come in," Asterion soothed, her large frame squashed as far as she could through the cabin's doorway, "But we just thought we'd give you a heads up about the next gateway."

"Sure," Hari chirped, "Is it far from here?"

Asterion shifted sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck as Lolita curled into her muscular side; "That's the thing, you've essentially been right on top of it all along. Lolita is the key to the next gateway."

"Right… and…?"

"We're going to vacate the ship before she desires the gateway to Level Three to appear, and takes us along with you accidentally," Asterion blustered, grabbing the Guardian Princess and leaping from the deck.

Li-Anne barged out of the cabin; "YOU'RE GOING TO DO WHAT-"

The coal black ocean dropped out from beneath them, a disgusting gurgling and slurping dragging them down-

"It really was nice to meet you-" Asterion called, Lolita idly waving from where she sat atop the guard's shoulders as Junky rocketed into the sky and through the next darkened gateway. The three Pirates assembled on the deck during the panic of sinking, were clutching on to whatever was closest to them and screaming themselves hoarse as the ship ascended at break-neck speeds.

"Was that really necessary?" The guard chastised, setting the Guardian Princess on the grassy bank where the Pirate's ship had once been docked. The guide rope had been ripped away from the ship, the sturdy wooden peg still hammered into the ground but a little bent out of shape.

"If they're going to label Us a nymphet, then We may as well act it," Lolita sniffed cheekily, her eyes surveying the dusky pink sky for a Pirate ship she knew was well on the way to Level Three. Still, she checked and felt a small pang of disappointment when the vessel didn't come crashing back down.

"That was what I was afraid of," the bull-woman sighed, before she was tackled to the grassy back by her needy Princess.

* * *

The third Level of Shi's Kingdom differed slightly from its two predecessors, for Level Three was up far off the ground. Still within the towering boundaries of the Kingdom, Level Three rose above the others. It was higher than most people should be, in fact, as the trio of Pirate struggling to catch their breath were finding.

"It-" Hari wheezed, "Just- huh, huff, like Reverse Mountain, huuurgh-"

"At least you," Li-Anne squinted as she panted, "At least you held on to somethin' this time- hah, and didn' go flyin' into the cabin."

Hari tried to muster up a fierce glare, but found she just didn't quite have the strength to do so.

"Sh-shut up…" The Captain said weekly to her Navigator. "Why is it so difficult to breathe?"

Hideki stumbled like a new-born deer, and clocked his head against the side of the cabin as he struggled to keep his balance.

"Sit down," Li-Anne snapped breathily, though she looked visibly better than her companions. "It'll help with the altitude sickness a little bit… For once, being a midget has paid off."

Hideki did as he was told. Hari too, the pair of them dizzied and looking a little green.

"If you're goin' to hurl, do it off the side of the ship," Li-Anne breezed past the two as the puffed for breath on the deck towards Junky's steering wheel, "'cos I've got to get this ship sailin' through the clouds."

Hari blanched; "We're that- huff ha- high up?"

Li-Anne nodded, directing the ship towards what looked like a stone dock. "I think we're on some type of water though, because I can't imagine clouds holdin' the weight o' this ship. We've got a place to pull over for a bit now though."

"Ho there!" A voice cried, and the travelling trio near jumped out of their skins.

"What is it with people in this Mariejois forsaken place and scarin' the shit out of me?!" Li-Anne screamed, tugging on her pigtails in frustration.

"My sincere apologies," said the giant beetle who had called to them, and barged his way onto the ship with much exertion. The shell of a giant beetle was hard to manoeuvre after all, yet the insect still manged to scale over the ship's railings to stand tall on the wooden deck.

Li-Anne shrieked, and so did the beetle. She swung her mallet, and the beetle crumpled to the floor; revealing a spritely man who had to be in his early forties from underneath the jewelled veils he wore to cover his face, which matched with the emerald shade of the hardened shell costume that enclosed his body. A set of false arms wobbled lifelessly at his midriff; crumpled in the commotion.

"What. The. Fu-" Li-Anne ground, as the man began to stir- rubbing at a large bump beginning to form on top of his head.

The bug-man smiled broadly, a gap in each side of his smile mimicking the pincers on a beetle; "That's quite the arm you've got there, Lil' Miss!"

A second bump was sure to form on the bug-man's head as Li-Anne sent him flying once more with her hammer. The elder woman turned on her frozen crew mates; "He deserved that, right?"

Hideki and Hari deliberated silently- the former feeling nervous sweat begin to trickle down his back and the latter inclined to agree with the fear and rage induced Li-Anne.

"Uh… sure? It was a bit rude of him to presume you were twelve?" Hari squeaked unsurely.

"Are you askin' or tellin' me, Captain?" Li-Anne purred.

"Telling. It was rude- very rude actually," Hari corrected quickly. "But I think it might be for the best if you didn't hit him again Li-Anne…"

The man in his beetle costume scuttled closer, "Indeed, I think my wife would be most displeased if I came home looking like another pincered species. We're proud jewel beetles, after all!"

The bug-man looked so very proud of this, yet the Pirates couldn't help but feel a little disconcerted by the way he was hopping merrily from foot to foot- his false arms jiggling with each step. It was mesmerizing- and not in the fantastical sense, more of a 'helplessly watching a sinking ship' experience.

"Could… could you tell us more about this Level?" Hari requested, wobbling to her feet and offering a hand to an equally unsteady Hideki. "We've just come up-" here, Hari heaved a little, as if remembering the process, "-from Level Two. I am Hari, and these are my Crew members Li-Anne and Hideki."

The beetle-man whistled; "I've heard that's quite the journey! I don't really know a lot about this kind o' stuff, but I do know someone who does! The name's Bugsy by the way!"

Two hands on the same side of Bugsy's body were extended for Hari to shake, and she chose the one firmly attached to Bugsy's body- not the jiggly one that was part of his beetle suit. "Nice to meet you, Bugsy. If you could give us ten minutes or so to get the ship and ourselves sorted, could you direct us to the person you mentioned?"

Hari had noticed both of her crewmates and herself had begun to shiver from the altitude. Bugsy's own costume was thick and fashioned of deep heat absorbing colours, to help him to retain any warmth collected from the brilliant sunshine which illuminated the third Level.

"Sure thing!" The beetle-man grinned, tilting his head knowingly. Hari strode into the cabin, intent on gathering lighter weight coats and jumpers for Li-Anne, Hideki and herself while the former two busied themselves with securing Junky to the docks.

Her cradling arms bursting with warmer clothing, Hari padded back to the open deck. A now outright shivering Li-Anne and Hideki grabbed for the thicker clothes, thanking their Captain as they pulled jumpers over their heads and slid their arms into thin coats.

"This is going to sound a bit weird," Hari began. "But did either of you two or Bugsy nip to the loo just now?"

"No, why?" Li-Anne returned, her face screwed up in bemusement.

"Because I could have sworn the toilet flushed when I was getting your stuff together," Hari frowned. "You might want to check on the plumbing when we get back, Li-Anne."

"Will do, Captain," Li-Anne replied lazily. "Lead the way, Bugsy."

* * *

Level three, compared to the near derelict Borderlands and the pink monstrosity that Lolita governed open, was rather pleasant. Apart from the limited number of people wandering through the quiet streets dressed as various insects, that is. The cloud topped waters trickled alongside the town through a series of canal systems- though they were not wide enough for Junky to pass through, a canoe or a narrow barge may slip easily through the connected water ways.

"… Very quiet…" Hideki murmured, digging his hands deeper in his pocket as she shuddered. The temperate climate of Isola Giungla had stripped away all inhibition of the cold the teen could have possessed; Li-Anne and Hari had no trouble adapting to the changeable weather, as they had either travelled enough or lived in a climatically temperate region prior to setting sail. So, while they quite happily trouped after Bugsy, Hideki shuddered after them.

"That it is!" Bugsy beamed, "There's not many left of us, to tell you the truth- and we don't get many traveling through like yourselves."

"Why the sudden population change?" Li-Anne inquired. "And why are ya'll dressed as bugs?"

Bugsy grinned, but it lacked the custom enthusiasm they had seen before; "We're all dying off, I suppose. Not enough food to go around, and- bless his heart, his Lordship is still a bit green at all this after his parents passed. Nobody quite knows what to do in a food shortage epidemic, and it's not exactly as if we can just ask for help from elsewhere, Lil' Miss."

"As to why we're all dressed as insects…" Bugsy rubbed at one of the large bumps on his head from where Li-Anne had walloped him earlier, "I suppose that is due to honouring our heritage in this level. Many, many generations ago, it is believed a slaver's ship crashed in the Borderlands- those that escaped the wreckage made it only to Level Three before settlin'. They fought between them to establish dominance over the others, or so our scholars once said. Ever since, the Little Lord's family has watched over this level as the Lord of the Flies. We lesser bugs look to him as our leader."

Li-Anne tried to hide her scowl at the nickname, but couldn't help but be intrigued; "The Lord of this Level is still "green" you said?"

"Well yes," Bugsy assented, striding his way through the labyrinthine set up of Level Three, "He's only thirteen after all, and all we lesser bugs want to do is help. He's got a bit of a development issue, you see. His stomach doesn't know when to stop eatin' at the moment, and reason won't persuade him from consuming more food."

Bugsy sighed; "The conditions up here are terrible- as your friend there has found. But it means that the whole way we grow crops and farm is specialised. With the Little Lord eating more than we can quickly grow, we're struggling to reap a hefty harvest."

"So, essentially, a pubescent boy is going to starve this whole Level because of his hormones?" Li-Anne echoed. Bugsy made a strangled noise of agreement, but said no more on the matter. Said hormonal teenager was still the ruler of this Level, and Bugsy had a wife and two little bugs at home to get back to. Li-Anne snorted and turned to Hideki, who had warmed slightly after Hari shed two of her layers and wrapped them about his body and neck; "I hope you weren't that much of a terror five years ago. I wouldn't have let you on my ship if you were the same now."

"Have you seen how tall Hideki is Li-Anne? He ate Elena out of house and home, I bet- you don't gain that sort of height just by genetics," Hari chortled, giving the teen a sly wink. Hideki rolled his eyes under the mop of his fringe.

Bugsy began to hop impatiently from one foot to another as he walked, "We're almost there… I do believe the Little Lord can help you, but I don't know how judicious a mood he'll be in if he's eating."

The bug-man pointed to a small building roughly thirty yards from where they were currently stopped; the building was palatial, with stained glass windows set into arching windows, heavy hinged doors, and fortified by stones that deceivingly looked as soft as cotton. Hari had gingerly run her fingertips over a similar structural material minutes before in wonder, only to find the fluffy appearing texture was in fact hardened rock.

"Af'noon!" Bugsy chipped to two sentinels stood outside of the building they wished to enter. "If the Little Lord wouldn't mind, I've got some people who'd like to meet with him."

The sentinels, each dressed in the red and black livery of a Ladybird and clutching a spear that seemed to be used sparsely, shifted uneasily. The Little Lord was in a tremendously difficult mood, and only an hour prior had he sent Madam Butterfly crying- the brilliantly patterned wings attached to her dress having been ripped off as the Lord's temper frayed. The sentinels shared a concerned look, which deepened as they surveyed the travellers.

"O-oh. That bad?" Bugsy wilted. The sentinels nodded grimly.

"Never mind if he's havin' a wee temper tantrum, we've got lives to live y'know!" Li-Anne stomped her foot. The sentinels didn't budge, going to far as to cross their spears across the wooden doors to the building in a 'X' formation. "Feck it!"

With that, she pulled her hammer from her back (as she was accustomed to wearing it there and securing it with a buckled leather band Hari had tooled patterns into), dove under the spears, and slammed her way through the door with one swing. While they looked imposing, the doors easily gave way under the force of Li-Anne's hammer- and once the residual dust settled, she strode quite happily into the building.

With a shrug of apology, Hari followed. As did Hideki, having to crawl under the crossed spears because of his height and because the guards had frozen in shock. Bugsy cleared his throat; the guards startled, and shifted out of the way for the beetle-man to pass them.

"We're doing all we can Sire…" A woman with honey blonde hair in a bumble bee suit whimpered, ringing her hands. The headdress she wore to look like a set of antenna were topped with furry black pom-pom, which wobbled on the springy wire stalks they were stuck to as she became increasingly more nervous. "But we're running out of materials before we can replace them-"

"That isn't good enough!" A cracking pubescent voice returned, the rumble of a growling tummy sounding akin to the preying purr of a Sea King. "I'm HUNGRY!"

"That's nice," Li-Anne growled, stomping her way up a long stretch of plush carpet towards the bee and what appeared to be the currently obscured 'Little Lord' Bugsy had told them of. "I want to leave already- and I've only been on this Level for about an hour. Guess we don't always get what we want, huh?"

The bumble bee gasped, and took the three Pirates and Bugsy's approach as her signal to retreat. As she moved, what her black and yellow furry rotund suit had been blocking from sight was revealed. A child sat upon a high throne, long flowing robes of a flecked black material hung off his slight frame. Sandy coloured hair flopped greasily on his head, the once smooth skin he probably possessed was now riddled with red protrusions and prone to acne. Finally, to add to the monumentally awkward catastrophe that was puberty, was the boy's apparent bad eyesight. Bottle specs covered most of his face- causing the eyes behind them to be refracted and to protrude massively thanks to the thickness of the glass lenses.

"Who are you to address me- the Lord of the Flies?" Said Lord proclaimed.

"Forgive my subordinate please, sir. She's in a foul mood. But all we wish to do is move on to the next Level," Hari spoke, clamping a warning hand over Li-Anne's mouth before she got them all locked up. Li-Anne licked at the skin childishly, and though Hari's face twisted in disgust she didn't remove her hand. "I am Hari, Captain of the Pom-Pom Pirates. These are my crewmates, Li-Anne and Hideki."

The Lord inclined his head as graciously as an uncoordinated teenager could; "I am Joffrey, the Lord of the Flies and governor of Level Three, as were my ancestors. Our lineage has provided governance over this level for many generations, though I must say that not many of my predecessors have been so blessed to see so many a traveller during their reign."

His voice cracked at varied intervals as he spoke, and Hari could feel Li-Anne snickering from underneath her hand. Even Hideki had to hide his amused smile beneath the jumper Hari had looped about his neck as a makeshift scarf.

"Well, we'd like to pass to the next level, if you'd show us the way?" Hari asked hopefully. Her smile became strained when the teen ruler made no effort to direct them.

Joffrey lent forward on his throne, idly scratching a reddened and swollen protrusion on his cheek; "Why should I do so, when you have made no effort to aid me?"

Li-Anne had begun to shake with anger. Hari was floundering for words and struggling to keep hold of the seething Navigator. Surprisingly, it was Hideki who stepped forward with an idea:

"… We can give you crops and soil…" the tall teenager said, shrugging. "… They're back at the ship though…"

Joffrey's lanky fingers tapped the arms of his throne, as he impatiently spat, "What good are plants when I'm hungry?"

Hideki shrugged again, "… Constant food source?"

The Lord of the Flies seemed to contemplate this, and the further he thought the further his gluttony influenced him. Li-Anne, finally free of Hari's hold tugged on Hideki's baggy trousers and hissed to the tall teen as well as she could without being overheard:

"You better not be caught growin' things, or we'll never be able to leave!"

The Navigator had a point, and Hideki was loathe to think of how he would be utilised as a quick and easy source for crops should that extent of his Devil Fruit powers be discovered.

"You there," the pimply ruler called with a sneer that meshed poorly with his bottle spectacles, "You found this trio?"

Bugsy shuffled forwards; "I-I did, Sire."

"Then you shall take Beelinda to their ship. You will report tomorrow for new duties concerning the plants you recover from these Pirates." Joffrey turned his gaze to the woman in the bee costume; "Then- and only then, will you reveal the next gateway, Beelinda."

"Of course, Sire," Beelinda intoned with a bow of her deely-bopper topped head. Bugsy, will incredibly flattered at the unperceived reward the Lord of the Flies had bestowed on him, couldn't help but think that this new occupation would be more trouble than it appeared. He had a wife and two wee bugs at home to think of. But with the ruler in such a precariously difficult stage in his life Bugsy did not want to poke the hornet's nest, so to speak. Next time, he would make sure not to greet travelers from bellow; they weren't worth the headache they gave with their ginormous pink mallets.

Another plant pot filled to the brim with soil from Junky's cabin rooftop allotment was passed over to the railings by a meticulous Beelinda to Bugsy, who placed it beside the various other scrounged pots occupied with soil and the plants Hideki had begun to cultivate.

"That is the last one, yes?" Beelinda said, with a buzzing lilt to her soft voice. When she wasn't sufficiently terrified by the teenager she served, the bee costume wearing woman could be quite peasant. Bugsy would later come to enjoy working with her as they established a brand new garden in the Level, and implemented a new growing regime to yield the maximum amount of crops to sustain both Joffrey's stomach and his people's hungry mouths.

Hideki nodded glumly. His cabin-top allotment had been stripped of its plants and half of the lush soil gathered from Gardiner's Island. It was sad to look at, only a few wooden structures he'd built tied together with twine remained, empty of the climbing plants that once twisted around the tripods of sticks they clung to before.

"That will be all then," Beelinda buzzed. She began to turn on her heel, only to be stopped by Li-Anne as she obnoxiously cleared her throat.

"And where do we go next then? To get to Level four?" The Navigator snipped.

Beelinda hefted one of the plant pots into her arms, nestling it against the rotund stomach of her costume.

"Follow this waterway until the next junction, the take the first right, then the second left. Continue straight until you hit the circular junction, and then take the third exit. From there, take the second left. The gate will be in front of you and you'll be able to pass through it unhindered," Beelinda restlessly settled the plant pot against her hid, clearly not used to the weight of the item.

Li-Anne managed to restrain her irritation until after she'd released the ship's guide ropes, started Junky's motor, and pulled away from the impromptu dock. "And here I was thinkin' she was nice! Did you get a word of that? She couldn't have been any more confusin', could she?!"

"Turn right here, Li-Anne," Hari said dryly, keeping an eye on the directions they had to take.

"I mean, really, you'd think they'd at least have someone guide you out- but I guess bottle spec's needs come before ours," Li-Anne huffed.

"You need to turn left here, Li-Anne-"

"Oh, shove off Hari!" The Navigator bellowed, sharply steering the ship around the corner. "I was listenin' and I know where to go!"

Hari raised her eyebrows at the elder woman, but said no more. She instead asked Hideki how long it would take for him to re-establish he cabin-top allotment.

"… Could do it now in one go…" The teen replied, "… I'll need a nap afterwards."

"You may as well get started then," Hari said, with an enthusiastic clap of her hands. "And while you're resting I can place some the compost we've got mulching in the hold on top of what you've regrown."

Li-Anne nearly lost her temper as they reached the circular junction- spouting angrily of how it was as 'damn confusing' as the rest of Level Three. Hideki clung to the edges of the cabin as the Navigator manoeuvred through the waterway, his precarious perch threatened with each hairpin-like turn Li-Anne performed. The teen had shed the sandals he usually wore on warmer islands, nestling his toes into the remaining soils and willing the plants to crops to grow- encouraged by the nurturing connection he had made with the earth his feet were buried in.

During the half-hour it took Hideki to regain his allotment, Li-Anne had managed to get turned around in the waterways several times.

"Did I make a mistake in agreeing for you to Navigate?" Hari asked cheekily. A tired Hideki was supported by her shoulders as she had begun to help the teen into his room inside the cabin.

"I've been doin' this for years Kiddo, and I've never struggled as much as I have done in the past thirty minutes," Li-Anne grumbled. "You'd better move beanstalk over there, he's lookin' a bit peaky again."

Hari shuffled an exhausted Hideki to his room, and flung a light blanket over the youngest crew members' body before she joined Li-Anne on the deck once more. The Navigator had finally found the gateway, and had left Junky idle through the last few corners so that she could survey the entrance to Level Four. The log pose had yet to stop sluggishly spinning whenever Li-Anne looked at her wrist; but they had to at least be getting closer to the end of the series of Levels. They had to be getting somewhere, but the degree of the trials Shi's Kingdom had presented to them so far had not been so challenging. That did not mean, however, that later tests would not be less taxing than the three they had faced just. Unless, of course, they'd chanced upon some seriously good luck before they got dragged in by the currents. Hari surviving her encounter with Captain Ishi had to be a good indicator of this, or at least, a good indicator of her skill should they have to battle their way out once more. Li-Anne hoped it wouldn't come to that again though. Once was bad enough.

"Wanna bet we'll be shootin' downwards next?" Li-Anne drawled.

"I wouldn't even bother putting money on it. What goes up must come down of course," Hari sighed. "What I don't get is why it can't be a gradual descent, rather than the usual white knuckle ride…"

"It just might be," Li-Anne grinned impishly.

Hari's face drooped; "You know it won't be, don't suggest otherwise. Hideki's down for the count, so are you ready?"

Li-Anne shoved the ship into gear in response, and they progressed to Level Four of Shi's Kingdom.

Hari had been right in believing they would descend at a stomach-roiling speed to the next level. They descended quickly- quicker than they had entering Lolita's pink monstrosity of a level, and sharper than their ascent into Level Three. Their drop into Level Floor was twisted; it placed Junky at an unstable forty-five-degree angle for the most of the journey, as they slid down a helter-skelter ride of water.

It was as though they were trapped in a spiralling chute- minutes blurred into forever as they descended around one never-ending corner after another. The flowing water splashed up the sides of the ship as Junky cut through it, lashing Hari and Li-Anne with the cold droplets.

"Oh, this is worse than Reverse Mountain-" Hari heaved. She had wrapped herself around the closest sail mast to Li-Anne and the steering wheel with grim determination; her face a perpetuating shade of puce than darkened threateningly with each corner they rounded.

"I'd have to agree with you there, Captain," Li-Anne replied dizzily, as she fought with the steering wheel to keep them upright. "When is this goin' to end? My arms are killin' me!"

No sooner had she exclaim this, did they go around the last corner; their helter-skelter experience levelling to a mere ramp before the ship crashed off an abrupt lip into deep waters waiting below. Yet more water cascaded on top of the two Pirates, thoroughly soaking them to the bone from the careering splash.

"Well, I guess that answers your question," Hari mumbled, untangling her clamped limbs from the vice grip they held on the mast. "What's this Level got in store for us, then?"

That would be when the sheer smell of Level Four hit them. Li-Anne dropped anchor quicker than humanly possible, snatching Hari's arm and firmly shutting the cabin door before the smell could invade the interior of the ship. Both stood gasping for a breath of fresh air, their bodies pressed against the wood panelling inside the cabin.

Li-Anne coughed weakly, "I may have some waterproof material in the hold that you could cut up and make masks from."

"I thought you didn't want me to touch anymore of your tarpaulins," Hari frowned. "Last time, when I cut up the nice brown one to make Hideki a raincoat you nearly bit my head off!"

"Yeah, well, I'll make a compromise for you this time, because I'm sure as hell not goin' out there without protective clothin' over my mouth and nose," Li-Anne bit out, swiping a stray tear from her eyes that Level Four's stench had procured.

Hari relented, "Fine fine, I'll go and get started. Hideki'll have to bed that compost of his down when he wakes up."

Hari walked to the end of the cabin's hallway, turned left towards the kitchen, but then took a set of stairs deeper into the bowels of the ship where Li-Anne kept all her supplies. The room was full of crates full of food, materials, and oddities that they may need for the journey- items that couldn't necessarily be stored in their rooms or the kitchen due to space issues. Hideki also had a sturdy container with a lid attached for the sole purpose of creating compost for his allotment. Hari pulled at a bright blue tarpaulin, which was doubled over covering some crates or non-perishables. There would be enough plastic material there for her to make three masks, as well as double layer them to create perforations in the fabric for breathing. Hari took out her scissors from the trusty pouch strapped to her leg, and cut a long rectangle from the edge of the fabric. That way, Li-Anne couldn't complain about odd shapes being snipped from her protective sheeting, and Hari had enough left over to make other items.

She began to make her way back upstairs, when she noticed a few cloth sacks and tarpaulins had been knocked to the floor. They were usually in use when Hideki's allotment was ready for harvesting- his encouragement of the plant's growth altered the schedules in which they needed to grow, meaning that they could produce a constant source of fruit or vegetables. Whenever it was time to pick the fruit and veg, they would be placed into tubs or the rough sacks and placed into the hold with the crates. The sacks and sheets however, were usually neatly folded in the corner, not strewn across the wooden floor of the ship, which was suspicious. Stuffing the scissors and the material in her pouch, Hari stooped cautiously to neaten the pile of currently unused fabric.

As she lifted the final sheet aside, a sleeping young girl, wrapped in yet another sheet, was revealed. The girl's eyes fluttered open- she yelped with a start, and kicked Hari in the shin:

"Ah!" The girl yelped, whipping to her feet and scrambling towards a crate so that she could hide behind it.

"Ah!" Hari shrieked back, also trying to stand while she rubbed her shin.

"What are shouting about?!" Li-Anne bellowed, stomping down the stairs. "What have you got to shout about getting' a piece of tarpaulin?"

Li-Anne's eyes widened comically; Hari was bent over herself, rubbing at her shin with a pout while a young girl- no more than ten, half-hid behind a storage crate with a defiant stare.

Hari's expression was one of amused disbelief; "I think we've got our first stow-away, Li-Anne!"

Li-Anne was not so amused, "Upstairs, now. Both of you."

* * *

"Right then, Kid," Li-Anne announced, placing a small plate of sandwiches in front of the child. The latter looked at them apprehensively, before glancing at Li-Anne who nodded knowingly. Only then, did she begin to scarf them down. "What's your name, how old are you, and what are you doin' on my ship?"

The little girl, having devoured the two sandwiches without pause, slurped at licking the crumbs from her fingers while she chewed ferociously; "'m Charity. 'm seven."

"Nice to meet you Charity," Hari chirped. "I'm Hari and this is Li-Anne. Could you tell us where you got on the ship from?"

Charity swallowed a dry mouthful of sandwich harshly; "The Borderlands. Snuck on with the other kids."

Li-Anne and Hari shared a look. Li-Anne was next to ask to ask question: "Why did you stay on the ship? I told the others to get off Hideki's garden, and they did."

"Wasn' on the garden," Charity replied mulishly, brushing stray crumbs from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hands before she folded her arms across her stomach stubbornly. "Didn' wan' the stupid fruit."

"Why stay on the ship then?" Hari inquired. "Haven't you got someone back at the Borderlands who's worried about you?"

Fat droplets of water began to bead at the corners of Charity's grey eyes, which turned into full blown water works as the little girl fell into uncontrollable sobbing.

Li-Anne tutted; "Well done Captain, they'll add to your bounty soon about how you upset children. Next thing you know, they'll announce that you kick puppies too."

"I didn't- Li-Anne! Please, please stop crying Charity- I didn't mean to upset you!" Hari blustered.

"I wan' Big Brother!" Charity wailed, a string of snot hanging from her nose as more tears threatened to fall.

"I'll go and get a wash cloth," Li-Anne said hurriedly as she sped to the bathroom.

"Li-Anne, don't leave me-!"

"I said I wan' my Big Bruh-huh-huth-er!" Charity sobbed, her little body heaving as she tried to juggle speaking and hysterics.

Hari scooted around the table, pulling the child gently on to her lap and holding her close as she continued to cry. She shushed Charity soothingly, rubbing a hand down the girl's back as she hiccupped. Li-Anne soon arrived with a cloth that was bone dry and another that had been dampened, which Hari accepted to first mop Charity's face clean, and then pressed the cool damp cloth to the red splotches that had appeared on her face from the crying.

"There there," said Hari, "Your brother isn't back at the Borderlands, is he? That's why you've followed us."

Charity feebly shook her head; "Big Brother Cain had to leave- they made him leave, so he lef'' me with Sally n' the others. But I don' wan' stay with Sally, I want Cain."

Li-Anne and Hari glanced to one another. Lolita and Asterion- even Sparrow, had warned them that there was no going back to a lower Level once you passed through the next gateway; even if this was done unknowingly or by mistake. They could not return Charity to the supposed safety of the Borderlands, just as they themselves could not return to the ocean outside of Shi's Kingdom. Li-Anne bit her lip to stifle a groan. They would be responsible for Charity until they found her brother, Cain, or until the next inhabited island- should anything have happened to the girl's relative.

"Are you tired, Charity?" Hari asked the now quiet child; she had curled into the Pirate Captain's ribs, fisted her hands in the soft material of Hari's baseball tee. Charity nodded, a wide yawn stretching her features. "Okay then, we'll get your face washed off better, get you into some clean clothes and then into bed. I'm afraid you're going to have to wear one of Li-Anne's nighties, but you seem to be a similar size."

Charity, at the age of seven, was only a couple of inches shorter than Li-Anne. The harsh life of the Borderlands must not have affected her as it did others- or perhaps she was just naturally tall, like Hideki. Either way, stripping her of the dirt brown shorts and off white fraying shirt and into Li-Anne fresh, prettily patterned nightdress was no trouble. No tacking stiches were needed to hem the garment (as Hari suspected she may have had to place a few anyway to stop the child from tripping), but the hem did pool slightly over the tops of Charity's feet.

"That's got to feel better," Hari chimed, leading the little girl into Li-Anne's room inside the cabin after she had been washed and changed. "We'll get you settled into bed now, eh? You can tell us more about your brother more in the morning over a nice breakfast."

She folded the thick covers over the small child with a smile; "Should you need us, Li-Anne and I will be straight across the hallway. Don't be afraid to wake us- for anything at all. You can also wake Hideki up too, but I suspect he may still be fast asleep even now."

Charity nodded once more, too tired from her crying fit to do anything else. Hari closed the door with a drained sigh. Li-Anne was waiting for her in the hallway, tapping her booted foot impatiently.

"And jus' where am I supposed to be sleepin' tonight?" The Navigator asked tightly.

"You can bunk with me," Hari's shoulders slumped; she'd not given her prior actions much thought, and now Li-Anne had lost her room for the night. "I only gave her your bed for the night because she's so small. If she fell out of my bed she'd probably hurt herself, and yours is low enough for a child."

Li-Anne relented; "Fine, but you better give me somethin' to wear."

"I think I've got a shirt big enough for you," Hari replied, walking into her own room. "Do you want the top or tail end of the bed?"

"What? Don't you feel comfortable jus' lyin' next to me, Captain?"

Hari snorted, throwing a large shirt comfortable for sleeping in to the elder woman; "I actually thought you'd be the one to complain should I suggest that. You may as well sit with the light on for a bit too if you want, because I've got four masks to make somehow overnight, instead of three."

* * *

Breakfast was an interesting affair for the three Pirates and the Charity. The Navigator and the Captain had not been roused in the night by an anxious child, nor had Hideki. In fact, Li-Anne had commanded Hari to wake the still slumbering child. Charity's time spent sleeping in the ship's hold must have been restless, for the dark smudges of fatigue under her eyes were much clearer to see in daylight.

She was groggily placed at the kitchen table, her body boosted higher by a plump cushion. There she sat, beside Hideki's empty place, accepting narrow slices of warm buttered toast from Li-Anne as the elder woman busied herself with her Chef duties. Charity's eyes nearly bulged completely out of her head as a sleep-disorientated Hideki plonked himself at the Breakfast table.

"Morning," Hari said, not bothering to look up from swilling the tea in her cup- hoping to dissolve the multiple sugars she had spooned into the liquid before Li-Anne clocked on to what she had done during the time she spent washing the dishes. Li-Anne wasn't fond of Hari's habit of loading her tea with countless spoons full of sugar- she would tut about how it would rot her teeth or Junky's plumbing, whichever she found new cavities in first.

Hideki grunted, took one look at the still bug-eyed child still in a borrowed nightdress next to him, shrugged, and began to help himself to breakfast. He was still tired from the regrowth of his cabin-top allotment; the quick regeneration of all the plants had cost him most of his energy.

"That's Hideki, Charity. Hideki this is Charity- our first stowaway and the reason why the toilet flushed at random times!" Hari said with a noisy emphatic clap of her hands. The seven-year-old had admitted to sneaking around the ship when she thought it was safe- only taking what she needed that was quickly consumable from the lower cupboards and using the facilities in the dead of night when no one would wake.

"Don't sound so excited about that," Li-Anne chided from the stove, "We might not be so lucky and have a child on board next time."

Hari sniffed, waving her hand disarmingly to the Navigator-come-Chef; "We're going to be keeping an eye on her until we find her brother."

"G-" Charity stuttered, eyes still on the male Crewmember, "G-giant."

Hideki lazily turned his gaze from his plate to her, and placed a large tanned palm on the girl's head.

"… Not a giant…" He retorted through a forkful of scrambled eggs, ruffling Charity's thick black hair.

After dumping her empty frying pan in a sink of soapy water, Li-Anne also sat herself down for breakfast; pouring herself a strong coffee and grabbing a now cooling piece of toast to go along with a selection of fruit hand-picked form Hideki's allotment that morning.

"So, any idea where your Brother has gone?" Li-Anne asked the child.

"'m not sure. Big Brother Cain didn' wanna' go, but they made him," Charity sniffled.

"Why did they make him, Charity?" Hari pushed, but the girl only shrugged. She must not have been privy as to why her elder brother was 'going away for a while', though she had been left in the care of those Cain must have trusted; knowing himself that the Levels were certainly no place for a child. Perhaps, if Charity had managed to pass into Level Two Lolita and Asterion would have raised her for a while- or Lolita would have her trapped for eternity as one of her objects of desire. As it stood, the child had an ounce of cunning, and had remained undetected on their ship until four levels in. They had no option but to become Charity's temporary guardians for now.

"What would he gain from leavin' her though? What's he hopin' to do?" Li-Anne prodded.

Charity pouted, tears threatening to spill once more; "He'll come back for me! He always comes back!"

Hideki cleared his throat, "… He's going to the end-"

"Only to come back in for her. He's making sure that it's safe first," Hari murmured in disbelief. "If you knew he was coming back for you Charity, why did you leave?"

Charity wiped her lips with the back of her hand, smearing butter across her skin. She shrugged, "Didn' wan' to wait."

Nothing more was said through the entirety of breakfast. Hari took Charity to her room, riffling through her chest of drawers for a Doskoi Panda shirt lifted all the way back in Logue Town that no longer fit the Pirate Captain. She then borrowed a pair of Li-Anne's shorts, which the blonde had a distaste for. Li-Anne much preferred to wear dresses or skirts, despite how they made her look even more child-like, though this worked in Charity's favour.

Hari then distributed the bright blue breathing masks she had made from dual layers of the tarpaulin. She had worked through the early hours of the morning, piercing hole through the innermost layer with a bradawl to create breathable mesh, which she then combined with a thicker layer. Sandwiched between these two layers was a piece of elastic, which secured the masks to the face. Li-Anne had dozed off after she had finished the second mask, so Hari moved her work to the kitchen in order to let he Navigator sleep.

"Right," Li-Anne started. "We go up there, we find the gateway- and then we leave before we die from exposure to whatever that smell is. So keep your eye's peeled, alright?"

They nodded, stumbling out onto the deck and into a scene of pure carnage.

Things.

Things as far as the eye could see- even with the aid of binoculars.

Things piled high like forgotten cairns- that twisted and tumbled deep into the water and stank.

"I think we've just stumbled onto Level Three's garbage chute," Li-Anne said, though her voice was muffled somewhat by the protective mask. The towers of long-forgotten things began to wobble, and ominous rumbling sounding off into the distance. "Uh oh…."

Then something crashed into the ship- rebounding off the sturdy wooden sides and into an oblivion of items; a few of which landed on to the deck.

"Was that…" Hari rubbed her eyes fiercely, "Was that a giant ball of trash?"

Li-Anne kicked at a set of folding metal chairs that had been left behind in the carnage; "We won't have to worry about summer furniture- this stuff looks decent enough if you want to sit on the deck in the sun."

Charity slipped her hand into Hideki's, pulling on the appendage. He wordlessly scooped the girl up and placed her on his shoulders, and she weaved her little fingers into his tangled mass of hair.

"Let's get movin'," the Navigator clucked her tongue nervously as the rumbling sounded again. Li-Anne started Junky's motor anxiously. "Hari! Get the binoculars and spot that thing before it hits us again!"

The Captain rushed to find the ridiculous pink children's binoculars, jamming them closely to her face, and then began to scan the area for the giant trash ball.

"It's coming towards the starboard side!" Hari cried, "Step on it, Li-Anne!"

The ship gained momentum quickly and would easily outstrip any other vessels on the sea, but Level Four was an enclosed and foreign territory that Li-Anne could not easily orientate the ship in. Whatever was powering the sphere of things vying to crash into them, had the upper hand. It demonstrated how that was just so when it narrowly missed hitting the back corner of Junky, idly pivoting, powering itself up, and jolting into the rear of the ship with an incredible bang.

The trio and Chairty were thrown to the deck, Hideki making sure to keep a tight hold on the little girl before she could go flying off into the water.

"Whatsss thisss?" Something hissed. "More thingsss but not the thingsss we want, no- no."

Hari crawled to the ship's railings and peeked out. A hunched over figure, suspended on the extended edge of a towering cairn of items and rubbing his gnarled hands against the side of the ship; "Too big for ussss to roll, too big for ussss to collect. Not what we want or need…"

The figure's head snapped skywards, it's eyes widening when catching Hari staring right back. Hari was looking down into the face of what she thought may have once been an old man. He wore a multitude of layered, brightly patterned clothes that seemed oddly familiar over a hunched, twisting body. The man's arms appeared to long for his body, or perhaps it was due to the forwards posture he maintained. Either way, his knuckles could barely miss skimming the tops of his bare feet. His weathered features and bulbous nose were nearly hidden under a wild snarling mess of salt and pepper streaked hair.

"Mammon saysss greetingsss to travellerssss," the old man stated, his fingers curling in an odd salutatory wave.

Hari, now stood and leaning over the railings, had been joined by her companions; "Hello, uh…. Mammon?"

"Yesss, we are called Mammon. We like thingssss but we get the thingssss we really want rarely."

"What sort of things do you like?" Hari asked tentatively.

Mammon visibly brightened, an indulgent smile nestled its way onto his features; "We like the Doskoi Panda stuff, but it never seemsss to get thrown down here. We would go and get it, but we have no desire to leave our ssssstuff. Mammon servesssss the Fourth Level, you see."

Li-Anne snorted, "Yeah, we see. We also smell it."

Hari shoved her elbow into the elder woman's ribs, begging her silently with a look to curb her tongue. Mammon, while hunched over and visually elderly, had to have quite bit of strength to push around the globe of things earlier. Hari wouldn't be surprised if he could lift or rip apart Junky with little effort when provoked, though the man seemed harmless enough."

"We don't notice the smell anymore," Mammon replied coyly, "We only notice the thingsss. We wait and wait for thingsss to appear to sssseeeee if we should keep them. The last thingssss were not interesting to us, be we ssssorted them anyway. They weren't like the live one that passed through."

"'Live one?'" Hari muttered almost inaudibly, her teeth nibbling on her bottom limp as she mulled on her thoughts.

"Aye, the boy was interesssting, but we let him go," Mammon furthered. "Ssspoke of a sibling. Said he would see me soon again."

Hari smiled up at Charity. The child still had her hands wrapped in Hideki's hair; "Mammon's seen your brother, Charity! He's made it further than Level Four."

A wobbly smile lit the child's face with joy.

"How exactly do we get out of her and to the next Level?" Li-Anne inquired, fiddling with the elastic of her protective mask.

"You help me organise for a while, or trade for the passageway," Mammon replied. "Only if you have the stuff I likes, can we trade."

Li-Anne nudged Hari; "You still have all of that Doskoi Panda stuff right?"

"Yeah," Hari nodded, "I'll go a get a load."

Collecting a sack from the ship's cargo hold, Hari padded upstairs back to her room, sifting through the articles of clothing she had nabbed back in Logue Town and selecting the pieces she disliked the most. She then folded them neatly, placing a pile inside the sick for Mammon.

"It may be a few months behind the trend," Hari warned lightly when back on the desk, "But it's been a while since I've been around a Doskoi Panda store."

She lowered the sack over the railings into Mammon's eagerly waiting arms. The man ripped the sack open impatiently, riffling through the neatly folded clothes and selecting choice pieces. He shoved a too-small t-shirt over his head, the fabric cowling around in thick folds.

"Yesss," Mammon crowed, dancing jovially on the spot, "These are fine!"

"Could you show us the way out now?" Li-Anne called. Mammon glared, his joy disrupted, but trudged with the sack in tow to the next cairn over.

"Where did I put it? Where was it last? Hm…." He mumbled, the sack slung over his shoulder and held fiercely in place with one hand.

Li-Anne pulled Junky's ripcord, selecting a low speed gear so that she could slowly trundle after Mammon as he hopped from one precarious towers of things to another.

"Ah ha!" The man exclaimed, leaning to point at an unimportant item in one tower.

"We've been looking for this one!" He shouted, yanking a yellow rubber duck from the pile. Said pile began to groan, wobbling unstably and casting small avalanches of things to tumble from the top. Mammon squawked, diving out of the way of an antique table. He clamped his hands over the sides of his head in shock, dropping the bagged Doskoi Panda goods; "We've done it again- the thingssss, noooooo!"

It didn't take long for the tower to come crashing down before them. Behind it was the entrance to Level Five.

"How long ago did you say your brother left you, Charity?" Li-Anne queried.

"'bout a month," the little girl replied.

"Shi-uh, I mean, _sugar_ , how did he manage to pile all of that up in a month?!" Hari squealed, censoring her language.

Li-Anne pushed the ship onwards, not even bothering to pay attention to the flailing Mammon or the multitude of things bobbing about in the water. They inched ever closer to Level Five, when Mammon let loose a blood curdling screech.

"The goodsssss! Where have they gone?! My precioussss Doskoi Panda clothesssssss?!"

Hari raced to the back of the boat, standing behind the cabin just in time to see Mammon dive into the putrid waters of Level Four after his sack of clothing. Then, darkness engulfed them. They had entered Level Five's gateway, and could offer no assistance to the servant of Level Four as he struggled to find what was precious to him in the various items he had amassed.

Hari strolled around the side of the cabin, biting her lip in thought.

"I feel mean for just leaving him…." The Pirate Captain sighed, joining the other's by Junky's steering wheel. Hideki had placed Charity back on the deck for now, but the little girl stubbornly refused to let go of his trouser leg.

Li-Anne snorted, pulling down her protective mask; "He brought it on himself Hari. If there's anythin' you learn as a tot it's that you don't pull somethin' out from the bottom of the pile."

"But still-" Hari wheedled.

"But nothin'. I'm jus' glad we got out of there before th stench began to eat through our clothes. It's great that your heart is willin' to help anyone and everyone, Captain, but you can't always do that," Li-Anne reasoned. Hari was about to protest, but thought better of it. She collected the three protective masks, and stored them inside the ship's hold with the rest of the spare equipment they had on board inside a large wooden crate.

"I have to say, the transition to the next level isn't as bad as I was expectin'," Li-Anne drawled, the ship sedately bobbing in tranquil waters. Light broke through the darkness in the tunnel, but it was a red and eerily cold gleam that greeted them into Level Five.

"You were saying?" Hari intoned snidely, feeling shivers begin to race down her back.

From what they could discern in the red-lit gloom, Level Five was filled with scenes of destruction. The waters they sailed through slowly were as thick and black as tar, bubbling aggressively and loosing wafts of skin searing steam. Ruined structures of once magnificent buildings rose through the grey fog in the distance, the slicked dark stone that may have once been a wall or a window arch lay in piles of rubble. Vehicles such as ships were half drowned in the sea of simmering tar, with others such as carts on the land left abandoned.

"… Spooky…" Hideki mumbled mirthlessly, hefting Charity up to his hip so that she could cling to his waist.

"That's one word for it," Hari replied, staring at the bubbling ocean they sailed on. "Whatever happens Hideki, don't go overboard, okay? I don't know whether we'd be able to find you and pull you out of that without you coming out cooked like a lobster."

The fog began to seep towards them; thinning ever so slightly as it stretched, but still obscuring most of their view of the water and what lay within it.

Li-Anne grit her teeth, "I can't see a thing out here. I we stop here until the fog disappears or I sink the ship because of somethin' I can't see in the water. Pick one."

"Shut down the motor then," Hari decided, squinting as the thick fog obscured her vision. "We may as well take a lunch break. I'll dig something warmer for Charity to wear out, it looks like this one is going to be a chilly level."

"Yes, do sort the little one out. Then we can capture you without remorse."

"Li-Anne?"

"Yeah?"

"You've gotten really good at ventriloquism," Hari praised, her voice warbling nervously.

Li-Anne took a deep breath; "That wasn't me Hari. Hideki? Charity?"

"… Not us…" The tall teen replied. It seemed that people ambushing them and turning up unannounced on the boat was to be common occurrence in Shi's Kingdom. It was a trait that was beginning to significantly wear on Li-Anne's nerves.

The fog began to swirl about them, wrapping closer and pulling at their hair and clothes before puttering away and dissipating. Compared to the ruin of Level five, the creature currently leaning against the prow of Junky inside the railings was perfect. Long flowing mercury coloured hair, high pointed features, and spotless armour. They evidently favoured a long bow, with the weapon and a full quiver of slender and swift arrows strapped to their back. Sever wickedly curving knives were strapped selectively to their belt and legs, should a close combat situation arise. Hideki bent his knees slightly, his long torso curving to protect the child clinging to his waist. Hari withdrew her trusty sword-cutlass from her sewing pouch; Li-Anne also slipping the hammer strapped to her back into her hands.

"Valiant of you," the perfect appearing being spoke; their eyebrows arching in a satisfyingly symmetrical way. "But I'm afraid you are outnumbered significantly."

True to his word, others began to appear in the slowly withdrawing fog. Thirty in total slid vertically out from the bubbling tar, completely spotless of the tacky substance. Their weapons, mainly bows, were already drawn and aimed at the trio of Pirates and Charity.

"Hideki," Hari hissed, "Get Charity inside."

Hideki placed the child on the deck once more and began to usher her inside the cabin.

"State your business here," the being said. Hari was still struggling to decide whether it was a man or a woman, the features were refined yet hard- and it was difficult to interpret the lyrical lilt to their voice.

"We're jus' passin' through. The little'un wants to find her brother, so we're takin' her with us until we find him," Li-Anne informed the beautiful creature, still not lowering her hammer.

"Your names?" It asked curiously.

Hari willed her enlarged needle to shrink and placed it back into her hip-pouch. She spread her hands in a motion of peacefulness; "I am Hari, my friend here with the hammer is Li-Anne, and Hideki is the tall fellow. The little one is Charity, we're looking for her brother Cain as well as a way to get out of the levels. Truthfully, we didn't mean to disrupt you, whatever it was that you were doing anyway…"

"We were on patrol, though I must say we were not expecting more visitors so soon. I am Thrandin, Captain of the Guard," said the being, with a slight bow.

"Stand down," he commanded, and those under his leadership relaxed their offensive stances.

"Sir, it is near time we swapped patrols," one member of the guard called.

"Indeed." Thrandin bowed his head regally. He swept his legs over the side of the boat, landing with feline grace on the water and darting to stand with his guardsmen. "Follow our patrol group through the fog to the shore line. Our leader will be most intrigued to meet you."

So, after yet again docking the ship with fragile guide ropes and Hari darting through the separate bedrooms in the cabin for warmer clothing, the Pirates and their young charge descended from the side of the boat. Charity, not so used to her sea legs finally being set on dry land, was hurriedly picked up by Hideki and placed on the Devil Fruit user's shoulders. The teen had become attached to the child. She reminded him of his relationship with Jun, before he ate the cursed fruit and his father's waning interest in his eldest son. The two brothers had been close, and it hurt still reliving how they were pitted against one another for the latter span of their upbringing. Charity had rekindled a protective brotherly instinct in Hideki- one that had lain dormant for many years as he and Jun grew up and driven further apart. Perhaps she found comfort in the colour shade of his hair, much like her own and even her older brother's. Hideki didn't know. Neither did he care.

They were lead through the ruins of the city- skirting around the rubble. This level was falling apart at the seams, as one building with weakly gripping bricks at each corner the only thing to stop the walls from fully bowing out and toppling demonstrated. But the normal citizens- or lack thereof, seeing as the only people they had encountered thus far were the guards and Thrandin, appeared to be immaculate function members of whatever militarised society Level Five had organised.

The deeper they travelled through the carcass-like warren of buildings, the more difficult it became to differentiate between each building you passed. Each were in similar states of disorder. The Guards led them towards one building that did not seem as dilapidated on the outside.

Li-Anne tugged on Hari's sleeve; "Look up," she gulped, and Hari did as she had said.

There were two cages, cylindrical and forged into unforgiving enclosures strung from the top of the building with heavyweight chains. They had been hung aloft for some time; the metal was beginning to rust a brilliant red.

"Why would you put- oh," Hari gasped. Two individual skeletons, majorly held together with scraps of clothing and what flesh remained, had been locked inside the cages. A man and a woman, suspended in confinement for decades and left to waste away. They did not reach out to one another for comfort. Instead both had turned away in shame at the person hung adjacent to them. Thrandin shuddered as he walked beneath the caged couple, flinching violently at something unseen when one of the cages rattled- as though he'd jolted in response to someone unexpectedly calling out his name.

Li-Anne swallowed harshly, her eyes wide and body tense as she looked closer at the remains of the man in one cage. The guards led them inside, and away from the cages. Only then did she relax her stiffened posture, though a slight tremor in her fingers persisted.

Seated on one of two crumbling thrones was a woman. The second throne was devoid of its ruler, and had been covered with a heavy brocaded fabric. Her hair was spun from sunlight; luminous and just as vibrant as the guard's own locks. Like her guards, she too was dressed for battle. The long skirts of her dress were a concoction of chain mail and steel plating. An iron corset wrapped around her body. The sceptre resting in the crook of her arm was in fact as spear, and her crown a coarse chakram if she was in a pinch. Jeez she's ready to throw down

"My Lady Dis," Thrandin announced with a bow, "May I present to you these travellers. Much like the one who passed on before, they wish merely to ascend the levels."

"Then they are welcome to," Lady Dis responded regally, her voice a dark and strongly enticing timbre that made the trio of Pirates want to clamour under her sharp gaze. "Once I have informed them of their fate as I did the other."

Hari stepped forwards a little and the guards tensed; Thrandin's hand rested against one of his many knives, though his face retained a placid expression. Hari decided better of moving any closer to Lady Dis, and shuffled back to her original spot. The guards relaxed.

Lady Dis was very amused by the antics of the Pirates and her guards. A cruel smile lifted her beautiful face, her hard eyes crinkling at the corners as she snickered.

"You're very brave to have come this far," the Lady told them. "Others would have wept at the mere knowledge of not being able to escape the Borderlands, or have failed to safely traverse the lower levels. They appear easy, do they not?"

Hari stood ramrod straight; "Ah- yes, Milady. But I think we've managed ot get as far as we did on luck-"

"Luck?" Lady Dis' features twisted. "It is not luck that has driven you through the levels! Tell me, what are the founding themes of this trial?"

"I uh-" Hari stuttered.

"Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed. We are wrath," the Lady snarled, rising from her throne. She slammed the butt of her spear's handle against the floor, and the dark coloured stone cracked under the force. "Each Level you transcend tests you further against your sins- surely you've noticed the behaviours of the Governors of each individual Level so far."

They had, and acknowledged as much.

"Good," Lady Dis replied sharply.

"These levels are not to be trifled with. You believe you have gotten as far as you have on luck-" she said the word with such derision one would think it was left an actual bad taste in her mouth, "-but I can tell you now that it is the strength of your sins that have allowed you to get thus far. The boy that passed through not long ago had done the same. But I could see it- his motive was pure, a younger sibling who he had to reclaim at all costs spurred him onwards…"

"Yes," Hari said softly, "We believe Cain is checking the levels for dangers and creating a safe route for himself should he be able to leave. That way, should Charity not have snuck onto our ship, he would have been able to loop back on himself and travel through the levels again unhindered."

Lady Dis smiled crookedly; "An odd name, 'Charity'. Ironic, I suppose, given her selfish action."

The child, still glued to Hideki, curled in on herself feebly- her eyes watered at the Lady's barbed comment. Li-Anne's fists curled at her sides, her foot tapped impatiently against the floor; her mind begged her not to give in to her anger, grab her mallet, and smash the Lady over the head with the obnoxious hot pink weapon but was fast losing its sway over the fury coursing through her body. The guards tensed again, but Lady Dis smiled coyly.

"No matter, no matter. I see why your group has gotten so far now," she seated herself back on her throne. "Your blonde companion is the source- such exquisite anger. It's been swelling inside of you for years, circling through your tiny body and tainting your very existence. It's beautiful…"

Li-Anne grit her teeth, the fists at her side clenching in a white-knuckle grip; "We'll be takin' our leave now, if you don't mind."

The demure smile of a pedigree Lady didn't sit well on Dis' features. Her mouth was more suited to the ragged snarl of a battle cry, the flinty expression her eyes possessed left no room for warmth or superficiality. She was beautiful, as were her guardsmen and women, but like the citadel of Level Five something structurally integral was rotten.

"Thrandin, please see them out, I see no need to detain them any longer," Lady Dis commanded stately. "The rest of you, switch out with the next patrol group."

The Pirates and their young charge were hustled away, back through the door under the knowing forms of the two caged corpses.

"I am sorry if Milady's comments have struck you," Thradin said genially as he escorted them back to Junky. "She has faced much hardship, and sometimes has lapsed in judgements when it comes to others who she decides have not known suffering such as hers."

Li-Anne snorted, "As if that's an excuse. We've all been through shi-"Hari dove through the air to Hideki, only to clamp her hands over little Charity's ears. The little girl was worn out, her head slumped against Hideki's chest as she snored softly. She would not have heard Li-Anne's cussing, but Hari still leapt to censure her Crewmate's choice words anyway. "- times at one point or another."

"That is true," the guard acknowledged. "It would be untruthful of me not to admit that every one of us in this Level is capable of horrendous deeds- the Lady Dis more so than others. But by remaining here, we know that we have a duty to fulfill- and this curbs and tempers our wrath to something of note rather than mindless anger."

Hari mulishly kicked at a small piece of rubble on the path in front of her and instantly regretted doing so. As she hopped up and down, one sneaker encased foot clutched in her hands, she asked in a pain-laced tone of voice what duties the guards possessed exactly- after all, it wasn't often that people transcended the Levels of Shi's Kingdom. They were mainly kept in the Borderlands by indecision and fear.

Thrandin plucked a loose section of his mercury tinted hair that was stuck to his breastplate and flipped it over his shoulder to join the rest of the long, flowing waterfall of hair down his back; "We punish sinners; those who seduce and flatter incessantly- those that cause harm in doing so. The ones who are mass liars- cowards who only know how to manipulate their own safe passage in life and cannot understand the concept of loyalty are the ones we hunt in this level should the need arise; even amongst our own ranks."

"Is that what happened to the two in cages?" Li-Anne queried sternly.

"I should not speak of it Miss Li-Anne, and I certainly shall not utter their names," Thrandin bowed his head, the shadows screening his features. "Nevertheless, the Lady's wrath cannot follow you once you exit this Level. The man in one cage was the Lady's husband- but yet even he proved in the end that our service to the Lady and this Level is detrimental."

"The woman in his cage was his secret lover then?" Hari asked quietly.

Thrandin turned to look at the Pirate Captain, the epitome of brokenness seared into his being; "Aye, Miss Hari. She was also my fiancé."

Hari stuttered to apologise, but the Captain of the Guard waved her off; "She was foolish, as was he, to test the Lady Dis. I have no need of someone in my life who scorns the fundamental rules of this Level," Thrandin said blankly.

He would not admit to them that his heart and soul still yearned for her, even as she swung lifelessly in the cage beside her dead lover. He would ultimately carry that sentiment with him until the end of his days as a final act of loyalty to Level Five. His own suffering would ensure he didn't follow in their mistakes.

"Milady was furious, and had the two imprisoned in the cages when she finally caught them together. The cages were welded shut; any trace of a keyhole eradicated from the metal. The two were not allowed to eat nor drink as part of the punishment of their betrayal, and we of the guard were not permitted to have- or make, contact with them."

"… 'Finally caught them'…?" Hideki rumbled.

Thrandin exhaled raggedly; "The Lady was in her late stage of pregnancy with her sole child at the time, but had been dissuaded by her physician that it was perhaps the babe causing her stress and paranoia. Nonetheless she then caught them, and the physician also lost his head for his incompetence."

"Nice woman, your leader," said Li-Anne jokily, but then she frowned. "What kind of a bastard cheats on his wife while she's pregnant?"

"The one hanging in the cage, Li-Anne," Hari muttered.

"I feared through the following years what strain on the Lady and her child the ordeal would cause," Thrandin continued, as they drew closer to the ship. "Naturally, all female guards were treated suspiciously, up until the death of the Lady's husband within his cage. Only then could those of her gender be trusted again. The child was as ever passionate as his mother as he grew, and excelled in combat. But his face and actions… he was the image of his father, and it broke Milady's heart as he grew older."

Hari rubbed her temples, ready for the headache that was Shi's Kingdom to be gone; "We didn't see a child back there…"

"He left this level many years ago, after a monumental discrepancy with the Lady Dis," Thrandin explained. "He coveted her crown as his own and pressured her to abdicate in favour of him governing in her stead, but she would not entrust it to him due to the nature of his father."

"So he left?" Li-Anne surmised.

"Indeed he did, and we will never know what has become of him. But he was willing to seduce his way into power- so it would not surprise me if he has slowly worked his way into power in a later Level," Thrandin warned them stiffly.

"Any other warnings for us before we leave?" Li-Anne prodded, watching Hideki scale the side of Junky and stride into the cabin to put Charity to bed. Once the girl was settled, he would be back to help them on board.

Thrandin smiled thinly; "I would suggest not following in their footsteps, lest you yourself end up with a similar fate. Even I have no idea what lies in wait for you in the next level, but the Lady Dis is correct in what she said earlier. It is by no luck that you have got this far. I hope the little one is reunited with her relative, and that you do find a way out this forsaken place eventually."

Hideki lifted Li-Anne onto the ship, swinging up over the railings after her and extending a hand down for Hari. Thrandin took his bow from where it was slung on his back, and notched an arrow. He lazily loosed the taught bowstring and sent the arrow sailing through a narrow rope some distance away. The severed rope caused a cleverly camouflaged fabric screen to fall not far away from the ship, revealing the entrance to Level six.

"You're always free to come with us, Thrandin," Hari said thoughtfully, gazing sadly at the guard as he laughed wetly and shook his head, his fingers trailing over the detail work on his longbow.

"My place is here, with her," he said with a small, genuine smile.

Whether he meant his lover or the Lady Dis, Hari would never know. Hideki had grown impatient and lifted her by her shirt over the railings as Li-Anne pulled the ripcord for the ship's motor. His action caused Hari's shirt to rise, and a flash of the lace of her bra could be seen by the guard; which left both flustered for many hours to come.


	9. Episode 9

**DISCLAIMER** : All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.

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 **My eternal thanks to** _EverlastingProcrastinator_ **for Beta-ing this Arc! This has been a tough one... I'm also very sorry to readers in advance. Shout out to** _Gerbilfriend_ , **for that last review. You have no idea how tempted I was to respond before I posted this chapter. Stay tuned for an Omake that will be posted later this week~!** **  
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 ** **Why not check my Tumblr blog for more behind the scenes posts, artwork, and sneak-peaks about this new story, and even some of my other works on Fan Fiction and A03? You'll find me as**** _yuilhan-from-ff_ ** **on that particular site!****

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 **"Pom-Pom Pom!"**

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 **Arc Three:** _'Welcome to Hell…'_

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 _Episode 9. The Mourning Tree… Hideki Loses Control!_

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"I can't believe you did that!" Hari huffed, crossing her arms protectively over her chest. "He's going to have the image of peach coloured lace forever burned in his mind, and I'm going to be eternally mortified!"

Li-Anne, slumped over Junky's steering wheel in hysterics, had yet to stop laughing even though she should have been concentrating fully on the spiralling downwards route to Level Six. The last they had seen of Thrandin before they disappeared into the gateway had been a burning flush on the guard's face, that clashed terribly with his pale hair and shining armour. The man had resembled a tomato wrapped in tin foil, and Hari had panicked to pull her t-shirt down enough to cover herself before hiding her face in her hands. The tips of her ears were yet to lose their mortified hue, even as the Captain of the Pom-Pom Pirates exchanged her embarrassment for anger.

"And why didn't you just use your vines to lift me over the side of the ship?! I could have choked to death by you grabbing the collar of my shirt," Hari snapped at Hideki, who merely shrugged.

"…Was easier at the time," the tall teen replied, lifting a dozing Charity further up his hip.

In truth, Li-Anne could feel herself a little envious of her Captain. Hari somehow managed to land herself in embarrassing situations with the strangest men available, yet she somehow came away from these encounters betrayed by her own appearance or with unprecedented flattery. Then again, Li-Anne thought, trying to stifle her laughter, Hari had no idea how to deal with either. Her Captain was friendly with everyone until their nefarious true colours and intent shone through, but she was crippled when it came to the opposite sex. Li-Anne chalked it down to the sheltered life the young woman had lead in Logue Town; both before and after her father's death. The removal of Argyle's business in Hari's life had catalyzed the young woman to grow; and it was maddening to see Hari unaware of just how she had progressed.

People were beginning to take notice of the young Captain, and that was not all due to the bounty's the crew had over their heads. Hari was beginning to unravel her own imposed maturity- which Li-Anne believed was necessary for Hari to continue working in Argyle's Haberdashery, and the free young Pirate Captain she was settling into being was beginning to emerge. This Hari was just as pleasant as the one Li-Anne had met in Logue Town, yet she was more than that. She was strong, protective and jovial. There was no wonder that heads were beginning to turn.

And then, something like this would happen, and Li-Anne would be forced to rethink what she had viewed Hari to be just as she was forced to stifle her laughter.

"Well, it's over n' done with now," Li-Anne struggled to say, as the image of Thrandin's flushed face and neck popped into her mind once more, unleashing another giggle fit.

Hari ground her teeth together. Her face was pinched with irritation. "If I ever see him again, I'll never be able to-"

"Whoah, stop right there," Li-Anne interjected. "Were you plannin' another tour of the Levels after we get out? 'cos I don't think we'll ever be goin' back in again, let alone seein' him another time."

Comprehension dawned on Hari's features, "Ah."

"Yes, 'Ah'," Li-Anne sniffed. "You won't have to worry about bein' awkward with him, because we're never comin' back to this- shipwreck."

Fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt, Hari mumbled back a faint retort of how 'shipwreck' basically summarised their whole journey through Shi's Kingdom to this point. Li-Anne stomped her foot; "No, it's a literally shipwreck in this level."

She was correct.

However, the term 'Ship's Graveyard' was perhaps more accurate.

There were half-sunken vessel and snapped masts as far as the eye could see- not, of course, including the drowned ships their eyes could not view, below the water's surface. Tangles of rigging lay stilly on the surface, as tranquil as a spider's web. Splinters of driftwood clunked against the side of Junky as they drifted further into the deserted level.

"Oh, I do not have a good feelin' about this," Li-Anne groaned. She looked at the ships with apprehension, her eyes widening at some of the names. She'd been around long enough to know some of the greats, to be alive and aware of their significance. She'd even clamoured over visiting crews when they settled into the harbour of her own home island back on the four Blues. "This is usually the point where somethin' jumps out an' scares the-"

"Don't say it!" Hari squeaked. "Don't even contemplate it- maybe then it won't happen."

"Now I know how you got through most your life," Li-Anne grumbled. "Your head must be a fantastic place to be, y'know."

Hari chose to ignore that; clapping her hands to gather both of her crew mate's attention; "We may as well stop here for the night. The place looks abandoned-" Here she shivered, "-and I suppose we can rest easy for the night. Whatever caused the shipwrecks hasn't caused us any harm yet, and I don't know about the three of your but I'm kinda hungry."

"We're doomed," Li-Anne whined. "Are you sure someone shouldn't stay up on watch?"

"We are not doomed," Hari replied peevishly, making Hideki snort. "But we're all tired, yeah? There's nothing here, and if something does turn up in the night to hurt us or the ship it's on my head okay."

"… Famous last words…" Hideki mumbled, and Li-Anne barked out a laugh.

* * *

The three pirate and their young charge woke from a restful night's sleep, enjoyed a lazy breakfast, and then decided to check the deck for any carnage that could have occurred in the night. Hari had become complacent in the eerily empty setting of Level Six, and proposed to arrogantly go and check by herself. Their uninterrupted peace had lulled her into a sense of false security, and during the short period she had been sailing on Grand Line, Hari really ought to know better by now that it was the ocean of infinite curveballs.

He was a solid wall of rippling colour that Hari had only seen in highly pigmented suit fabric, rich, supple leathers, and the navy-blue fury of a thundercloud suspended over Logue Town. There was a full grin of extended, gnashing teeth, overlapping and snarling at one another as upper and lower jaw met in a smile. Beady, calculating, desperate eyes glinted from under heavy set, unruly eyebrows and a shock of tousled sun bleached hair.

Sun bleached hair that draped in multitudes of painstaking braids across his torso in place of clothes-

She muffled her scream and visions with her hands.

"Hi."

"Hello?" Hari said, though it was muffled and oddly amplified from behind her hands.

"Hello." The (later revealed to be) Fishman echoed as he stood before her; his sharp teeth gnashing together in a grin. The stomp of Li-Anne's boots, Hideki's lolloping gait and the slight tap of small youthful soles echoed in the cabin behind Hari. Hari tried in vain to dissuade them from stepping out onto the deck.

Hideki slapped his hands down over Charity's eyes as Li-Anne shrilly wolf-whistled; "I guess it's true what they say about a shark's p-"

"Not another word, Li-Anne!" Hari screeched. She stuttered a 'P-please cover yourself!' to the intruder on the deck, before realizing that other than his hair he truly wasn't wearing anything else. "H-Hideki, could you get him some of your trousers, or something, please!?"

Hideki ushered little Charity inside with him, preventing her from catching a traumatising eyeful and saving them all from numerous mortifying questions that were sure to follow should she have been given a full view. He returned before the young girl and quickly handed over a pair of shorts that barely skimmed his own thighs midway, but would be suitably cover the Shark-like Fishman towering above Hari and Li-Anne.

"I'm Leviathan," the stranger announced, now fully clothed. Hari relaxed, and could now focus her gaze on the fellow's face rather than the overhanging ceiling of Level Six. From what she could distract herself with in the time it took Hideki to return, there had been two hundred and forty-eight stalactites pointing ominously from the cavern's solid roof; clusters of glistening precious gems were nestled temptingly between each sharp point, and helped to refract the little natural light present around the level.

Li-Anne had heard tales of mythical beasts, far deadlier than Sea Kings, with such a name. However, they were the stuff of sailing folk-lore, hearsay, superstition and certainly not at all seven feet tall masses of aquatic nervousness.

"It's nice to have a visitor again," Leviathan's body hummed with excitement. "It gets real lonely without other people, you get me?"

Li-Anne's eyes scanned the surrounding wrecked ships, and she wondered exactly what had happened to Leviathan's other visitors; "Uh-huh…"

"I mean, I got here when I was super young, you know? I don't even know man, it was, like, the currents dragged me in or something," the Fishman continued. "I was quite happy an all, and then suddenly I'm here. Alone. It's not nice man, it's not fun to be alone."

Hari was still perturbed in general, but seeing what could have been a strained grin on Leviathan's part had her wincing from the sight of wickedly sharp overlapping teeth grinding along each other. He had a rather nasty underbite; one she was sure she wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of, either.

"Why have you never left then?" Li-Anne prodded, and quicker than it is humanly possible to say 'sea bass' Leviathan's genial nature rescinded.

Leviathan slumped, tensely running a hand through his braids. They tinkled and clinked slightly, and on closer inspection, Hari found that he had woven sea shells, starfish and eroded, strikingly patterned pebbles along them. Some surrounded his head like coronet, while others trickled through the loose braids hanging down his body.

"I wanted to leave, I did, but I just couldn't," he explained, "It's safe here and scary out there, I s'pose. Seemed pointless leaving when I was safe here- and I told all of them that too, y'know!"

Li-Anne's eyes scoured the shipwrecks. They were dashed against boulders, against one another, tangled and twisted and stacked. Her eyes lingered on one, a galleon, but more importantly the gateway it covered. The ship was large and would have had difficulty passing through the gateway to the next level, that is, if Shi's Kingdom did not interfere and widen the passageway. Lolita had summoned her gateway- selfishly guarding it, while others had built civilisations or obsessions around them. Both the Guardians of the Levels and the Kingdom itself had some part to play, and Li-Anne surmised that whatever, or rather whomever, was pulling the Guardian's strings could magic up a solution to a measly galleon.

Whomever the puppet master was also had a sick fascination with lumping the whole crew in with the weird ones too, Li-Anne noted in her head, which didn't bode well for them on the long run.

The galleon itself was beautiful and left largely intact by whatever had wrecked the others; 'Sweetling' could be read on the bow in cursive, bright lettering, and the emerging figure of a slender woman, her arms outstretched and her hair flowing, served as the figurehead- her eyes were softly wide and unseeing, her hands grasping and comforting.

Li-Anne shuddered at the sight.

It was terribly gaudy.

"My big brother must've left though," Charity piped in from her perch on Hideki's shoulders. "He's making it all the way back to me, and then we'll go through again- that's wha' they said."

"Brother?" Leviathan echoed, his attention turning to the ships. Mayhap he was scouring the wreckages for the family member he had sunk with their ship? "I think I had a brother once, girly. My memory is fuzzy man, that could be my dad I'm thinking of…"

Charity hummed in affirmation; "My big brother is the best! Cain will come back for me, I know it!"

Li-Anne gazed to Hari, who stared back unsurely. For all they knew, Cain could have very well perished in this level, and they wouldn't know unless they searched every wreckage and below the water's surface. Also, other than the galleon- Sweetling, it was doubtful that any vessels that had recently passed through Level Six had sunk. Most the ships were old and rotting, or covered in algae and barnacles; Li-Anne was doubtful that the galleon belonged to Cain due to the state of the Borderlands. The galleon was likely the result of another shipwrecking or abandonment- prior to Cain's own journey, that had fallen foul of Level Six, and which had been strategically placed over the next gateway after Cain's departure because of the galleon's fortunate size.

"What happened to them?" Hari asked quietly, shifting nervously on her feet.

"What do you mean, man?" Leviathan returned, his frightening grin hardening into a harsh line of jagged teeth.

"What happened to the people that wanted to leave?" She clarified. "Did they go to the next level or-"

"They didn't leave man, except on two occasions," Leviathan said, methodically checking the two instances of Level Six escapees off on his hands. "One was recent too-"

"That would be my big brother!" Charity beamed.

For once in his life, Hideki was thankful to be over eight feet tall. The disgusted glare the Fishman directed at Charity had the lanky teen straightening to his full height and shooting a protective glower right back. Hari and Li-Anne closed ranks before the pair, hands fluttering respectively to a hip pouch and a large pink mallet should the need arise for their swift use. Li-Anne was thankful that Darling had provided her with a quick-release holster she could strap to her back and buckle closed across her midriff. She doubted she would be able to lug the weapon around with her otherwise; not because of its weight, but because of its cumbersome shape.

"I didn't want them to leave here, girly," the Fishman addressed Charity. "Had he stayed and waited he'd be here with you right now, but everyone is so selfish and they leave. It's so lonely, and I try to get them to stay but in the end, they all leave."

"How do you persuade them to stay then," Li-Anne sneered, loosening her mallet from its holder. "Do you smash their ships up and watch them drow-"

"It's the only way!" Leviathan spat, "The only way they can't leave me!"

Hari eyed the precisely placed galleon. Sure enough, there was a jagged tear near the keel of the boat- just visible over the water level as the ship rested on top of the stone archway to Level Seven. Such a wound could have been dealt from an extremely strong fist, or a set of arms capable of lugging heavy ship's masts through the air like a javelin. She supposed that either possibility could be possible if Leviathan was the one portraying the action.

"It was you who put the ship there after Cain left, wasn't it?" She inquired coldly. "Why would you stop people from leaving if they really want to?!"

"Because I don't want to be alone! I've got nothing in here, but I know that it's safe," Leviathan cried. His webbed fingers clutched at the coronet of braids circling his head; his body began to curl in on itself in futility as trembles wracked his scaled limbs. "He asked me to go with him, but I'm afraid! Now I'm alone again-"

The Fishman stilled. Then he straightened and laughed though his gritted set of frightening teeth; "You won't leave me, all of you- will you? We'll be a family, right? I'll make sure it's nice for you here guys, I'll be your big brother, or whatever man?!"

"You're insane!" Li-Anne snarled as she removed her mallet from its holder.

Leviathan shook his head. His braids jingled distractingly. "No, I'm sure about this. You won't be leaving."

Before they could stop him, he leapt over Junky's railings and into the water; they could see his shadowy outline flitting with the current away from them and towards the galleon. Then it stilled, and the Fishman's head emerged from under the surface:

"I'll sink your boat if I have to!" He cried.

"You lay one fishy-finger on my baby n' I'll make sure you'll be singin' soprano for the rest of yer' life!" Li-Anne roared.

But Leviathan didn't heed her threat, and ducked under the water. His body was a blur under the waves, darting ever closer to Junky in a desperate attempt to hit the ship critically and have them sink.

"Li-Anne! Put your mallet away and start the motor!" Hari cried. She ushered Hideki and Charity inside the cabin; "Li-Anne and I can handle this for now, you just make sure that she's safe alright? Make sure that you're both safe inside- I'll come and get you if we need you."

"… You have a plan…" Hideki stated as Charity wrapped her hands firmly into his hair. The little girl worriedly sat atop his shoulders, and ducked with his body as he bent low to avoid the cabin's doorframe.

"Yeah," Hari nodded. "It's going to be a bumpy ride though, so it'd be better if you were both inside in case you go overboard."

Hideki was still wearing his pink rubber ring, though he doubted it would do much to assuage the fierce currents they were pulled into the Kingdom with or the one's that directed them into each level. Charity also had no protection against the waves, other than being indoors or with a crew member with the ability to swim. Even then, Hari and Li-Anne would be no match against a fierce torrent of water. Sometimes, Hideki truly hated to be a Devil Fruit user, despite its perks. He missed letting the tide lap at his feet when walking down a beach. Hated not being able to help, or fearing constantly being washed away by the ocean. He hated not being able to help or protect the people that had become closer to him than half of his family- in such a short space of time. So, he resigned himself to Junky's cabin; both he and Charity seated tensely in the kitchen, the closest room to the cabin's entrance should Hari call for them.

"This is scary," Charity's lip wobbled as she pushed tears beginning to roll down her cheeks away with the backs of her hands. "I want my big brother…"

"… I know…"

"You can't make me feel better like he can," she moped.

"… I know…" He replied again, knowing full well that the girl was panicked and didn't truly mean what she had said.

"… But I'll help you the best I can."

Meanwhile, up on the deck, Hari was rifling through her sewing pouch; having hurriedly removed it from her leg temporarily so that she could submerge nearly her whole arm inside while she searched for a specific collection of items. Li-Anne had started Junky's motor, and was making sure not to let the ship idle in the waters without zooming off into the ship's graveyard. If she ran out of energy before they cleared the way to Level Seven, they would assuredly remain in this level with Leviathan forever.

"What is our plan exactly?" Li-Anne called as she steered past the rudder end of a small yacht that had bobbed up to the surface. Leviathan was in pursuit of the ship, even though it cut through the water with more power and speed he had. When it came to the tricky manoeuvring through the remains of Leviathan's misguided destruction, Li-Anne was at a disadvantage. She had to balance between maintaining her speed, keeping the ship from topping from one side, and evading both the Fishman wanting to drown them and multiple wreckages. She could power away from him again, frantically dropping up and down Junky's gearbox with experience only gained from many years of sailing with a power-assisted motor attached to her ship. Eventually though, when she slowed to evade or turn, Leviathan would cut through it all by swimming around or underneath with a litheness the rigid structure of ship couldn't ever achieve.

"We're going to blast our way out of here," Hari informed her. She yelled in triumph when she found what she had been looking for. Collected quickly into her arms were several balls of wool, of varying weights, textures and colours ranging for projects made for slender to insanely chunky knitting needles. However, despite their visual and tactile differences, they shared a common purpose. "I need you to steer close enough to galleon and then get us away as quick as you can. I'm going to have to throw one of these in the hole in the side- but we've got limited chances."

"Heh," Li-Anne huffed, "Who do you take me for? I can get you there on the first try."

"They're contact bombs, I believe," Hari continued, "Or… so I think?"

Li-Anne snorted, jerking the ship to the side just as Leviathan burst out of the water with his fists outstretched. She quickly changed Junky's course and motored away to the disgruntled, semi-garbled cry of a Fishman diving back into where he had emerged.

"Sounds promisin'," she grumbled, "What happens if they're not bombs?"

Hari shrugged.

"Brilliant," Li-Anne groaned. "Just brilliant."

Leviathan's body leapt from the water once more, this time arching beautifully over the exit splash with a synchronised forward swing of his arms. He dove beneath again, his body creating a continuing serpentine between air a sea with each supple contortion of his body. It also drove him ever closer to their ship, with a more noticeable maniacal chase for them to witness as he took them down.

"Right," Li-Anne pushed Junky onwards, leaving a hail of flotsam behind her. "We doin' this?"

Hari twisted the loose end of one the balls of wool upright, and oddly enough, it stayed there- just like the detonation fuse on the bombs she'd seen in cartoon comics the younger boys obsessed over back at Loguetown.

"Let's go," Hari replied. Li-Anne steered the ship back on itself, skirting around another ship that had met a fatal end and Leviathan's awaiting destruction of Junky.

Inside the cabin, Hideki found himself constructing a sturdy, bouncy and spherical cage of supple young vines with the aid of his Devil Fruit; this time with soft, fanning leaves protruding from the main stems rather than thorns. He had wrapped Charity and himself inside when the ship began its odd twists and turns, quickening and slowing, to keep them from sliding about the kitchen purely on accident. Being forced to bash into a set of cupboards was bad enough for himself, but Hideki realised that Charity could be seriously injured should she collide with the solid wooden cupboards and worktops.

Their verdant cocoon tumbled about the room, yet inside they were pillowed against many leaves, and it was an enjoyable ride once one got over the nauseating feeling of disorientation.

Li-Anne made another sharp turn, and Hideki's cocoon ricocheted off the walls again.

"Get ready!" Li-Anne screamed, having finally found an opening to get close to the obstructing galleon. Hari selected a ball of wool and strode to the railings as quickly as she dared while Li-Anne's driving remained so erratic. They zoomed parallelly to Sweetling, and as they reached the gaping hole in the galleon's side Hari gently lobbed the ball of wool inside. It bounced once, twice-

"Move it!" Hari bellowed, urging Li-Anne to steer them away as far as she could and plugging her ears in anticipation of an explosion.

But no explosion came, and the chase began once more. Leviathan shone no chance of tiring soon, although they had been playing cat and mouse for some time now.

"I- I don't get it," Hari mumbled. "I know I've still got to work out all of the uses for the equipment Darling upgraded, but-"

"You idiot," Li-Anne chastised, "Obviously, they don't detonate on contact."

Hari's brow dipped in confusion, "You mean-"

"You're gonna' have to find a way of settin' them on fire in time for when I get us close by," Li-Anne confirmed.

Snapping her fingers, Hari collected another ball of wool. She pinched the tail end of the yarn, and that too stood erect like the wick on a candle, or a bomb's fuse.

"I need some matches- they're fused! Why didn't I realise that sooner?" She told the older woman giddily, the latter of which informed her that there was a packet in the kitchen. "Kitchen… Kitchen-"

Hari darted off, stumbling down the stairs into the cabin as Li-Anne turned sharply. She flung open the kitchen door and shuffled inside when the ride became bumpy once more. A sticky, rolling sound caught her attention and she dived aside before a giant green ball could crush her while Li-Anne changed Junky's course to evade pursuit once again.

"What the fu-fruitcake?" Hari exclaimed- altering her expletive as the fleshy green sphere parted open to reveal Hideki and Charity inside.

"… All done?" The third member of the Pom-Pom Pirates asked.

"Nope," Hari replied with a emphasised plosive 'p'. "I need some matches."

Hideki nodded, and Hari stared as the vines wove themselves together again, as though there hadn't been a gap there just recently. Then she scuttled to the kitchen cupboards, finding herself placing the pressure of her weight behind her midriff as the ship turned near horizontal and bounced out of the water. What Li-Anne was doing up there, Hari had no idea; but she trusted her Navigator to keep them safe until she returned with the matches. Painfully pushed against the cupboards, Hari didn't notice the familiar sticky rolling noise until it was too late. Hideki's spherical cage crushed against her-

"Gugh!" Hari cried, feeling winded. The ship tilted another way and the pressure was lifted; the young Captain dropped to her knees trying to recover her breath. Feebly, as she knelt on the ground, she pulled open drawer after drawer, and countless cupboard doors in search of the tiny packet of matches. As the unstated law of the world would have it, the packet was right under her nose, and had been left on the near-empty shelf of a spice rack Li-Anne had hung by the stove top. She snatched it up with a fierce grip.

"We should be free soon Hideki," Hari yelled as she scrambled from the room, fumbling to open the tiny box and free one of the matches. "I got them!"

Li-Anne was red faced and heaving for breath by Junky's wheel, "Get on with it then- I won't be able to go on for much longer, the little blighter is damned fast."

The shortest of the three pirates had expended most of her energy trying to keep the ship constantly moving, and keeping it from tilting or hitting anything in the water. Leviathan had hardly hesitated in following every manoeuver or evasion tactic she executed, and it was becoming tedious of anticipating one step ahead of both the one threatening to purposely sink her ship, and the environment potentially about to do so anyway.

"Hideki's turned into a giant green ball," Hari said blithely, fiddling to hold both a large ball of wool and the box of matches, while trying to light one such match.

"That's nice," Li-Anne replied in a tone laced with derision. "Can you light that bomb already please?"

Hari struck the tip of the match against the slightly worn rough side of the box. Nothing happened.

She tried again.

Nothing.

"Anytime, Hari," Li-Anne grumbled through gritted teeth. She turned the steering wheel sharply, jostling the ship to the right when Leviathan shot from the water and onto a piece of ship debris.

The Fishman roared, and the two pirates on the deck turned their attention to him once more as intimidations and threats of just what exactly he would do to Junky unless they stopped sailing this instant. It was quite the turnaround from the pleasant stranger they had met just a short time ago after breakfast. It had to be around brunch time now, Hari mused, but Mariejois be damned if they were going to quit sailing now.

Upon seeing that they had no intention of halting the chase anytime soon, Leviathan bellowed of how he'd make sure they stayed here forever- and that there'd be nothing of Junky left by the time he was through with crushing the ship into splinters. He dove back into the water with a large splash, and darted directly through the wrecks to where the pirates were currently sailing.

"Are you goin' to light that match yet or what, Hari?" Li-Anne puffed, throwing her effort into turning the ship away from the oncoming Fishman. If she timed it correctly, they could pass by the galleon very soon as she was leading Leviathan back towards Sweetling currently.

By this point, Hari had gone through five matches and all had been duds. She rooted in the small box for one more match, and quickly struck it against the box's side. A small flame coated the tip of the match and Hari crowed in joy. She fumbled for the tail end of her yarn, pressed the match to it, and held it away from her as the fuse began to faintly hiss.

"It's working-! OH, NO! LI-ANNE IT'S WORKING!?" She screeched, wanting to flail her arms in horror at the fact that she was holding a ticking time bomb fashioned from the pelt of fuzzy sheep, but knowing she couldn't do so.

"Get to the railings," Li-Anne commanded, spotting the galleon in her line of vision. "Get ready to throw that thing-"

Hari screeched again as she dashed towards the railings; the fuse had begun to spark and the flame se had lit there was rapidly gnawing closer and closer to the actual bomb.

Li-Anne slowed the ship for a second just before they reached the side of Sweetling- switching down her gears and slowing the ship down, but caused it lurch and buck slightly in the water for they were going too fast for such a low setting. Leviathan swam to the rudder end of the ship, taking the motorised propeller between his hands and tugging it near to his torso. Li-Anne fought to keep the engine from cutting out, fidgeting with Junky's gearbox as the ship's engine screamed out in protest.

"Throw that thing already!" Li-Anne snapped with a quick glare to the fizzling bomb in Hari's hands.

They were within touching distance of the gaping fissure in Sweetling's port side. There was no way that Hari could miss while so close, and she was thankful that her aim was true that moment. The thrown bomb nestled itself on a pile of shattered wood and other debris, away from any water that had collected inside the galleon.

"Go!" The Captain of the Pom-Pom Pirates cried to her Navigator, and Li-Anne flawed Junky's motor all she could.

A Fishman's strength is monstrous, or so the crew would discover later in the travels. However, Leviathan's iron hold on Junky's propeller was no match for the souped-up specifications Cana and Coquelicot had installed.

The regenerative quality of the battery that had replaced the old one with, along with the extra turbine, meant that Junky had a lot of energy to burn despite running quite a bit of what had been stored up already off. Li-Anne shoved the ship into a higher gear and grit her teeth together to hard she wore she felt them crack. Little by little, the ship gained purchase. Then it was a though a cork had popped out of a champagne bottle; Leviathan lost his hold when his restriction of the spinning propeller wasn't enough, and then it sent him revolving along with its usual motion. Dizzy, he relinquished his grip and flung away from the ship with a huge spray of water.

They had hastily sailed as far away as they could when-

 ** _B-BOoOoM!_**

Li-Anne winced as she watched how Sweetling was rocketed skywards as the bomb detonated; the galleon holding her shape mid-air for scant seconds before falling to pieces. A hail of wood, metal, and decaying textile collided with the water- the most of it slipping down through the now exposed gateway.

Li-Anne whooped, shifted Junky down two gears and arcing back to the direction of the gateway. Leviathan, who's head was visible from the neck upwards bobbing over the surface, was less than impressed by these developments. Snarling transformed his plethora of pointy teeth into something more terrifying- the beady eyes, so heavy set below his prominent brow were enlarged with fear and irrationality. Hari saw those eyes flicker and she knew there and then that she should have stopped her fear from taking over, that she should have stopped Li-Anne from flying off the handle also. Leviathan was alone and afraid, and although that was no excuse for his behaviour, Hari could have extended an olive branch and offered him a place on the crew just as she had done with Thrandin. Yet she did not. Was it because his differences and size terrified her?

Probably not- Hideki had frightened them more than once with the exotic uses of his Akuma no Mi, and the teen's height was frightening to someone of the five to six feet tall range. He was practically a giant to Li-Anne, though the latter would kill Hari if she knew she were giggling about her short stature during such a tense time. They'd also seen a lot of weird happenings during their short spree of sailing, and Leviathan wouldn't be the last unique occurrence to crop up during their journey. No, it was because in that moment in time, Hari was feeling selfish. She'd gotten used to the small unit of three (with one guest for the moment), and she did not feel like accommodating another; Thrandin had turned the offer down, and Hari had realised that perhaps not everyone was suited to the pirate life. She wouldn't expect herself to be, even if she was somewhat coerced into it. So, she selfishly decided that three was enough; three symbols Darling had painted onto their Jolly Roger, and three they would remain for the foreseeable future.

Leviathan darted up behind their ship once more, but it was too late for him to attempt to demolish Junky for the ship was tipping its way down into Level Seven, along with the rubble of Sweetling. They barged their way past the golden, grasping figurehead and left behind the hollow cries of the Fishman behind.

Hari almost felt guilty.

Then she pictured his rage, kept in mind the teachings of Asterion, Lolita and Lady Dis, and felt the conviction behind her actions was necessary. Not everyone they encountered here, on the Grand Line, or in their lives would be honourable. It was up to her as Captain to guide them past the obstacles said people created, even if it meant cruelly leaving such individuals behind rather than bending to their will.

* * *

Leviathan did not pursue them into Level Seven.

Li-Anne wondered if this was due to his anxiety of leaving his own level trumping his desire to be around others, or if Shi's Kingdom had a larger role to play in confining its Level Guardians. Either way, she was glad for them all and her beloved ship to have escaped that encounter unscathed.

"Hideki? Charity? You can both come out now!" The Navigator heard Hari call from inside the cabin. She watched as Charity skipped out onto the open deck, and how Hari regaled them both with how they had just managed to escape. The young girl was transfixed and hung on every word spilling from their Captain's mouth. Funnily enough, so was Hideki. Li-Anne cleared her throat and the boy jolted; sheepishly ducking his head at having been caught being captivated by their Captain.

Hari was of course, oblivious as always of the attention she brought herself. For this, Li-Anne was glad; many of the in-crew relationships she had witnessed over the years had gone sour. Like it would get to that stage though, poor Hideki would have a rough time of it trying to convince Hari that anyone of the male persuasion could possibly be interested in her for something other than her fashion sense.

She stepped away from Junky's wheel and let the flow of the current guide them down into the next level. This method hadn't ended in disaster so far, though she felt awkward and anxious at having control taken from her.

A loud splashing sound had her turning to the rudder end of the boat, just as further up the steep decent of water behind them, the golden bust resurfaced and struggled in the water. Li-Anne shuddered. Would their close-call continue to haunt them through the remaining Levels?

Skirting around Hari and her captivated audience, Li-Anne strode into the kitchen. She distractedly made herself a cup of coffee, sat at the kitchen table with her head in her hands, and promptly forgot about the steaming mug before her. Shi's Kingdom was pulling to the surface memories that Li-Anne thought well sunk. It was throwing her for a loop, even without the crew and their uninvited guest's antics in tow. Dis had been right about her anger. She. Li-Anne, was a bitter, small woman, who hid her feelings behind her youthful face. Still, her temper had resurfaced rather frequently on Grand Line; more so than it had done on the Blues, anyway. She had the distinct feeling that it would follow her all the way to the end of this ocean and back again, and snorted softly through her nose at the thought; her head was still cradled in her hand, and she rubbed at her eyes tiredly.

Disdainfully eying the cold coffee on the table beside her, she drained it into the sink and stomped back up to the deck.

Hopefully by now they should have neared the entrance to the next level, and it would not be long before Hari bellowed down to her about it. She smirked, envisioning the young captain hopping from foot to foot excitedly.

However, as she reached the top of the stairs, she was greeted by stunned silence.

It appeared that they had already reached the next level, and that between then, Hari and Hideki had managed to dock the ship. Curling remnants of Hideki's vines were snaking lethargically back to their creator, and Junky's wheel had (thankfully) not been tampered with.

Before them stood a rather unusual display. The dock walls here were built higher than Li-Anne had seen before. Metal ladders were suspended from the top of a towering wall beside the lower-levelled docked ships down to water level, and led up towards a wide, open plateau. Around the edges, finely built houses, each sporting different banners of different colours and symbols on sharp flagpoles and hung from windowsills, congregated. They were easily segregated into three different areas.

Hari, Hideki and Charity stood in a line next to one another by the railings of the ship closest to the nearest scalable ladder. All three had tilted their heads to one side, staring up to the edge of the high-walled dock where three middle aged men, decked out in armour, snipped and snarled at one another.

"We have ssssssome vissssssitorsss, yesss-"

"And I shhhall claim them as my own!" Cried one of them in reply to the first.

"I think you will find that it is I who will claim them," said the third, this one thankfully without some form of inflection clouding most of his utterance.

"Asssss if!"

"Yes, Shhhove that for a game of soldiers!"

"Grrrreat insults if everrrrr I hearrrrd them," replied the third man, and Hari whimpered quietly.

"But I'm afrrrraid yourrrr crrrreativity will have to wait, as anotherrrr guest has arrrrrrived."

Li-Anne's heels clicked on the wooden deck, she gently elbowed a shallowly breathing Hari in the hip and hissed at the younger woman to pull herself together. It was most likely not a coincidence that one of the three spoke too similarly to Lucien for their tastes and definitely not another strange coincidence. Well, she hoped.

"We would not be having thisss converssssation if you did not accusssse ussss for your own ssssshort comingsssss," the first of the three men spat, narrowing his eyes at the third man.

"Yessshhhhh," agreed the second of the men, "This is not our fault at all!"

As their squabbling intensified, the three began to draw quite a large crowd from the surrounding houses. The pirates and their young charge could only watch on while the hurled insults, jeering, finger pointing and sneering became egged on excitedly by the gathered people by the docks; each of the rolling their 'R's, hissing their 'S's and lisping their 'Sh' sounds in response. It was almost surreal, and Hari certainly felt as though she were having an out of body experience.

However, with one angry stomp to the Ss man's foot, the disagreement desisted.

"Why would you do this to me, my sssssweet?" The man howled, hopping on one foot while clutching the other in shock.

"Becausssse you are acting like a fool," hissed the woman who had ground her finely heeled stilleto into his foot. She clutched her heavily ruffled, vibrant dress skirt in clenched fists that tinkled gently when she moved them; there were layers upon layers of beaded, charm-laden bracelets hung from her wrist. Similar pieces were threaded through her neatly slicked back hair, her slender, if slightly crinkling skin of her neck, and the piercings of her long-lobed ears.

"And you," the woman thrust an accusing finger at the third man's chest, "You ssssshould not encourage thisss dissscord after the sssssstrife you continually put all of ussss through. The three of you agreed to honour a peace time treaty- and honour it you ssssshall!"

"Lucrrrrretia, darrrrling, should I have only been quickerrrr all those yearrrrs ago I would have snapped you up in a teeeerice," the third man purred indulgently at the irate lady.

Lucretia chuffed, her brow furrowing; "You couldn't handle the likessss of me! You disssshonour you late wife, Ludovico- you disssshonour her and your long losssst ssssson greatly in sssssaying thisss," she murmured darkly.

Ludovico- the third man who continuously rolled his 'R's, had the decency to look chastened by her statement, and quietened momentarily. Then, the second man muttered something under his breath, and the arguments resumed.

Lucretia clucked her tongue and inhaled sharply in through her nose in annoyance. Her eyes roamed from the three men, whom were shouting over one another to have their opinions heard, to the trio of pirates and their guest. Her skirts brushed against the top of the high-walled dock as she made her way to the fixed ladder leading down to Junky. Said skirts were hiked up, around and in-between a set of frighteningly muscular legs to form an impromptu set of shorts. Hari was impressed; she'd never thought of doing that before.

The pirates stared dumbly as Lucretia slid down the ladder, hopped over the railings, and scooped up an equally nonplussed Charity into her arms.

"You look jussssst assss your brother dessscribed!" Lucretia exclaimed, supporting the young girl with one arm and pet Charity's hair with the other.

"You've seen my big brother?" Charity cried, wiggling in the woman's hold. She snatched at the woman's curling black hair, clinging onto it with her fists in a vice grip. Any news of Cain had Charity over eager and ready to relish in tales regaling his adventures; it had helped them piece together the elder sibling's thoughts and his reason to travel all this way just to do it again for his little sister.

Lucretia hummed, eying the still flabbergasted pirates, "Yessss, he passssssssssssssssssed through here not ssssso long ago. He aided ussssss greatly, even if the effectssss of hissssss effortssss here will be forgotten in a few monthssssssss."

"How do you mean?" Li-Anne asked, finally breaking out of her stupor. Hideki and Hari's attention was fully set to the still squabbling men.

Lucretia eyed the elder woman, "He helped ussss arrange a treaty. We ssssshall honour it until it endssss, or rather, we sssshould be honouring it."

She trained her eyes on her husbands, Ludovico and the seonc man, then turned to the smallest of the Pom-Pom Pirates. "Cain arranged for ussss to ceassse fighting."

"That doesn't seem to have worked," Li-Anne returned wryly.

"Yesss, but the bloodsssshed has sssstopped."

"… Did you just say what I thought you said," Li-Anne rubbed at her ears as though to clear them.

"Antonio!" Lucretia snipped, and within moments the woman's husband stood by her side on Junky's deck.

"Yesssss, my love," the man simpered. His wife generally took that tone with him when she'd finally had enough of his petty arguments. These days, with Cain's truce still in force, he found himself the recipient of chastisement more often than not when he was drawn into his fellow House leader's disagreements.

"Tell thisss lady of the truce we mussssssst uphold," Lucretia commanded sternly, smiling indulgently as the man complied. The two men atop the dock, noticing Antonio's disappearance, also descended the ladder to Junky.

"We've called a truce for three monthssssss over which Housssse hassss the besssst inflectionssssssssss, out of the three of ussssss; that iss the Sssssss, the Sh and the Rr Housssssesssss," Antonio informed Li-Anne. "A young chap sssssorted it out for usssssss- decent bloke, of courssssse."

"Outshhhtanding young man, he was," chimed the second man, whose name they were yet to learn.

"Assss I wasssss sssaying, we're having three monthsssss of peace, but we'll be back at again sssssssoon. Are you ssssssure we can't possssssssibly recruit you?" Antonio asked hopefully.

Lucretia smacked him in the chest, and he crumpled to the ground beside her feet.

Ludovico had been eying a nervy Hari, and Hari, in turn, had been pre-emptively hiding her stripped stockinged legs behind Hideki.

"Yeshh," the second man continued, "Only, we wishhh that we didn't have to."

"What was that?" Lucretia growled warningly. Charity pet the woman's cheek, and the latter's harsh expression softened drastically. "Did I sssscare you ssssswetheart?"

"No," Charity shook her head. "Hari's 'fraid though."

In fact, Hari was downright certain through her terror that Ludovico's interest had moved from her purple and green stockings to the pom-poms on the edges of her shorts. She wasn't sure she liked this, as it hit home that perhaps there were similarities between him and Lucien than she would like to admit. She'd tried to hide behind Hideki, but Charity's statement had them all turning expectantly to find Hari shaking like a leaf.

"Reign yourssself in," Lucretia scolded Ludovico.

"Yeah Hari, control yourself," Li-Anne said with a roll of her eyes.

Hari's hands wrung the hem of her t-shirt, and she pushed out her bottom lip in a pout; "But it's like Pastello Island all over again!" Li-Anne simply snorted in response. "Li-Anne! I don't feel comfortable in my own clothes anymore- and I love these clothes."

Antonio sheepishly tapped on his wife's shoulder; "Yesssss," Lucretia answered his unspoken question, "You may join Ludovico and Tiberiusssss. Perhapsssss their young man-" here she nodded to an absent minded Hideki, who had been keeping an eye on Charity and the movements of both Ludovico and Tiberius as they scaled the ladder to the top of the docks, "-with you?"

Antonio's eyes lit up gleefully, and a reluctant Hideki was dragged along with the head of House Ss.

"And no fighting-" Lucretia hastily added as her husband responded to a muttered remark from Ludovico by launching himself at the man. "My hussssssband the incompetent," Lucretia huffed fondly as said man tootled off to pick meaningless battles with the Sh and Rr House.

"Now," the woman lifted her chin proudly. "You mentioned sssssomething about feeling uncomfortable in your own clothesssss, missssss… Hari? Wassss it?"

Hari's eye twitched. There was too much hissing, purring and 'sh'-ing here for her to take in one day.

Li-Anne shoved the pirate captain; her elbow meeting the sensitive, prominent part of Hari's hip, causing the latter to squeal; "Uh- wah, yes…?"

Lucretia's hand skimmed lovingly over Charity's hair once more, "We sssshall get you all fitted for sssssome new garmentssss, and you sssshall tell me all about how thisssss problem began in the firssssssst place."

Something about Lucretia's forwardness gave both Li-Anne and Hari the impression that 'No' wasn't an answer.

* * *

"I never thought that embroidered skulls could be so pretty," Hari marvelled, eyeing the embroidery on her new flared trousers. The red fabric had incredibly fine motifs around the waist, the side pockets, and the seat, and felt incredibly light against her skin. Her old clothes were folded in a neat pile by a floor length mirror. Lucretia had escorted them to her own home, the Ss Manor located farthest to the left when one looked upon the three main sections of Level Seven from the front.

From there, she had introduced the two pirates and Charity to her daughter; a brighter, daydreaming and youthful copy of her mother- though her meek nature was that of her fathers. Dorabella had been very happy to assist in finding clothes to suit the three of them, and both pirates found it very easy to share the tale of their journey through Grand Line and Shi's Kingdom so far.

An incredibly pale blue shirt, which tied with a large, sloppy bow at Hari's neck complimented the light-coloured stitching on the trousers. Her sewing pouch, as always, was strapped around her right thigh. She reached for her old sneakers and had them slapped out of her hand by Lucretia.

"You are a woman of power, no? Pirate Captain? You will act assss sssssuch now," Lucretia had told her forcefully. Henceforth, Hari had been corralled into a pair of steep, chucky heeled platforms, and was told to wobble her way around the room in them until she could walk with poise while wearing them.

Lucretia was a hard task master.

Hari had tumbled over three times already, falling flat on her face each time.

She was told to stand back up immediately.

Li-Anne was finding it all incredibly amusing. She had been pushed into a billowing shirt, and a skirt that wrapped neatly around her lithe, tiny frame. The heavily ruffled hem overlapped and met at the front, revealing Li-Anne's lower calves and the Doskoi Panda boots that Hari had lifted; of which, Lucretia deemed 'passable'.

The injustice was rife.

Charity had been offered an old, ruffle-adorned jumpsuit that had once belonged to Dora; with this, they forced onto the girl's feet a pair of soft white socks and a pair of buckled shoes made from a sturdy leather. Hari looked on enviously, but couldn't help but feel for the girl. This was the first time in weeks that she hadn't been wearing rags or clothes from Li-Anne that were still far too big for her young body.

Hideki, meanwhile, had become a central point to the three men's further arguments. Their gentle ribbing, coercion and attempts to recruit him into their respective Houses sparked further petty squabbling, fist fights, hissing fits, and slanging matches.

He was rather relieved when Lucretia and her daughter released Hari and Li-Anne from their home, albeit the former of the two newly freed pirates still struggling with her clothing. Lucretia made sure to scoop a squirming, unsure-of-her-new-shoes, Charity into her arms before joining them.

Li-Anne chuckled as Hari wobbled along with her to greet the trio of still-arguing heads of House and their reluctant captive.

"Ah!" Antonio exclaimed, "What a ssssssight for ssssssore eyessss. Lucretia my love, you have worked your magic well."

Hari pulled the hem of her shirt sharply down over the elaborate embroidery at the tops of her trouser legs, narrowing her eyes in anticipation at anyone who thought to chance a glance. Li-Anne sighed, but couldn't say she blamed the girl. The spangled jeans incident and the Marine-who-must-not-be-named had really taken its toll on the young pirate Captain; said Captain was usually exuberant in the embellishment of her garments too.

"Just put up with it for a bit longer, alrigh'," Li-Anne hissed to the younger woman. "At least they're not outright starin' like Lucien was."

Ludovico stilled; "What did you just say?"

Li-Anne frowned, "That my idiot Captain should be confident about the fact that people are admirin' her new digs?"

"After that," the man demanded.

"'Lucien'?" Hari responded hesitantly.

Ludovico took Hari by the shoulders, shaking her slightly as he demanded she tell him all she could about said person. Dizzily, Hari batted him off as well as she could, but the onslaught of questions and demands spilling from the Head of House Rr had yet to cease.

"You have seen my son?!

Looks like me? Brrrrroad nose? Rrrrrolls his 'Rrrrrr's?!" Hari was given a harsh shake with every rapid-fire inquiry the man made. When she managed to free herself, finally finding a use for the heeled shoes Lucretia had forced her into by grinding one sharp point into the man's foot, she slumped over to catch her breath and still her dizziness.

"Yeah," Li-Anne drawled as she nonchalantly inspected non-existent dirt under her nails, "We saw him, maybe, two or three islands back? I forget."

Ludovico dropped to his knees, breathing raggedly.

"How was he?" He asked the pirates quietly, and Hari winced.

"Weeeellll," Li-Anne began, ignoring her Captain's forbidding look. "There was the potential kidnappin' he was plannin'- which we thwarted, the skirt chasin', oh, he was a Marine Captain- not so sure about that career plan currently, and Hari stabbed him in the neck with a sewin' needle…"

The inhabitants of Level Seven stared at the Navigator dumbly.

"It was a pressure point I hit, and he was still breathing when we left him in Chieftain Coquelicot's custody," Hari stressed heatedly. The Marines with Lucien had turned tail and fled, while Coquelicot had seen to it that Lucien was locked away in a specially designed prison based somewhere on the island; of which, he had no hope of escaping anytime soon, as it had been especially designed by Darling.

"My son was a corrrrrrupt Marrrrine?" Ludovico echoed with an incredulous tone."He hurrrrrt people?"

"Chip off the old block then, yesh?" Tiberius interrupted snidely.

Lucien grabbed Tiberius by the front collar of his shirt, snarling inelegantly in his face. Antonio placed a calming hand on his fellow House Head's shoulder, but was rebuffed as both Tiberius and Ludovico's tethers on their tempers frayed. The overlapping of fierce 'Sh' and 'Rr' inflections filled the air, shortly joined by 'Ss' as Antonio joined the fray. Hideki created thin wisps of willow to loop around the Tiberius and Ludovico as they squared off, ready to pull the pair apart should things become any more heated.

"Admit it! The only reason Violetta left you was becaushe shhhe could no longer trusht you around other women!"

"She took my son with herrrr Tiberrrius! He was only a babe!" Ludovico howled, "I don't underrrrstand why she left this level entirrrrrely-"

"Shhhe was in pain, you fool!" Tiberius snarled. "Shhhhe couldn't stay to watchh you cavort around with others, like you shhhould have with her- and only her."

There was a lull in the tension hanging over the small crowd of people congesting the courtyard situated between the three districts of Level Seven. No one dared to speak, to move, or take a breath.

"You helped herrrr get away. You helped herrrr take my son away frrrrom me," Ludovico stated murderously. His face was awash with pain, anger, and the denial that someone so close to him (despite their differences in nature and their need to clash constantly) could betray him in such a way. "End the trrrruce."

"We agreed not to –" Antonio said hesitantly.

 **"End it,"** Ludovico replied; all rage.

Antonio shared a look with his wife. Lucretia shook her head, jostling Charity along with the motion.

"I want no part in thisssss," he told the other men sombrely. "We have done sssso well sssssssso far not to come to conflict while the treaty issss sssssstill in place."

Tiberius rolled his eyes; "Alwayshh under Lucretshia's thumb, Antonio."

"And jussssst what issss that ssssuposssssssed to mean?" Said man retorted with narrowed eyes.

"Exshactly what I shaid," Tiberius growled.

Lucretia handed a bewildered Charity to Hideki, who sensibly placed the young girl atop his shoulders out of reach from the conflict. The woman then rolled up the wide sleeves of her dress, and stepped into the snarling fray of aggravated men to set Tiberius straight for his comment about her.

During the conflict, Dora had slunk off without her parents or those around them noticing. Hari's own observations caught her and another boy making moon eyes at one another from opposite sides of the street separating the Ss and Sh districts, not intentionally of course. She had only been scanning her surroundings for a safe space to bolt to if things got… uglier. Perversely, the couple were throwing slim stiletto blades to one another as though playing a simple game of catch. They would smirk and snicker as the game intensified; Dora batting her eyelids coyly as she caught the flat of one blade between her teeth while pulling another from below her skirts. The boy's eyebrows wiggled cheekily as both were flung at him, and their game continued.

"No! We're not doing this again!" Hari cried, eyeing the star-crossed couple canoodling from adjacent sides of the street. "No! Just no!"

"Hari, okay, we get it." Li-Anne sighed, following the sight Hari's gaze had locked on to. "You've got issues with inflections and hormonal teenagers. Keep a lid on it though for now, alright?"

"Xander!" Tiberius snapped to the boy making cow eyes with Dora. Said boy went deathly still at his father's voice. "What have I told you about fraternishing with the enemy?!"

'Xander' mumbled something inaudible back, though Tiberius seemed pleased with the answer. The boy appeared to be put out from his father's interruption; his expression pleaded for Dora to both save herself from his father's ire and to steadfastly remain by his side through the inevitable lecture of 'fraternising with the enemy' that was sure to follow.

"We are not your enemy, Tiberiusssss," Antonio stated. His tone was irreproachable, as dangerous as a sharpened steel blade. Lucretia and even Ludovico made to hold the two men back, away from tearing one another apart with their bare hands and cutting words.

"Your daughter is plainly sedushing him," Tiberius sneered. "No Shcion of the House of Ss will ever be good enough for my son!"

Antonio's nostrils flared dangerously. This time, Lucretia and Ludovico made no attempt to hold him back, and Antonio's fist socked a smirking Tiberius right in the neck. Tiberius dropped to the ground, heaving for breath.

"Ready your bladessss, the both of you," Antonio demanded. "Have your whole Houssssessss ready to march. I will not forget your ssssslight upon my wife and daughter, Tiberiusssss."

"Antonio, no-" Lucretia interrupted, but a further inspection of her husband's livid expression, and possibly also the fact that his body was quite literally shaking with rage, made her consider her plea for him to reconsider his next actions.

Antonio stalked off into the direction of their home, Ludovico and Tiberius doing the same to their own.

Lucretia heaved a sigh; "You musssst go or find sssssturdy ssssshelter before they come back, I am afraid. There will be no ssstopping them from thisss point on, treaty be damned. I knew it wassssss too good to be true, yet I had hoped they could leave their warmongering dayssss behind them at the end of the three monthssss."

"Warmongering?" Hari squeaked, as Li-Anne inquired how long the treaty had been imposed from the start to the present date.

"A matter of three weeksssss. Better than nothing, I sssssuposssse, but I really expected Antonio to lassssst," Lucretia replied. Li-Anne considered this; they weren't that far behind Cain, presuming of course that he had made it any further after leaving Level Seven, or that he didn't have the luxury of a motorised vessel. It could be likely that they would catch him up at this rate.

"Warmongering?" Hari echoed weakly.

Lucretia appeared confused at first, but thought better of it; "We are the Ssssseventh Level of thisss Kingdom. While I do not pertain to know what liesssss beyond and before our bordersssss, I know for certain that we are a people of pure violence. We revel in warfare, argumentsssss and dissssscord, but I had hoped for a little peace after Cain sssso kindly arranged for it. Hisss effortssss have gone to wasssste, ssssomewhat, but I ssssuposse it was idealisssstic of me to believe we could ssso wildly abandon our traditionssss…"

"…The gateway?" Hideki probed despite the tension in the air. Lucretia had sobered into a fierce woman, her eyes rapaciously scanning the surroundings for signs of hostile movement, her ears straining to catch the first clang of armour and weaponry heading towards the battlefield. The air felt dark and oppressive; there was no noise outside of what the trio of pirates, Lucretia and Charity were discussing quietly. It was eerie. One would expect a flurry of activity, but the streets had been deserted. Soon though, men, women, adolescents- anyone really who could and would take up arms for the honour of their house, would march through those streets and onwards to fight a petty battle. Charity took even measures of Hideki's long hair into her small fists, tightly gripping it and pulling against his scalp. Apparently even she knew that something was afoot, and did not feel comfortable with it at all.

"It liessss beyond the three disssstrictsss, you can't misss it if you follow the water round," Lucretia answered with a resigned bow of her head.

The quintet stilled as Antonio stepped through the threshold of his home onto the empty street.

He was encased in armour that had been polished within an inch of its life throughout the duration of the peace treaty; Antonio had had nothing to do without being able to instigate war, after all. Atop his head there was a helm; its vison was drawn to protect his face and chin. A long spear rested in his hand. It belonged there, strangely, and the two should not have been starved of each other's company for so long.

Dora and her paramour were ushered inside the Ss household. Anontio would not separate the pair, despite his current distaste for Tiberius and his ilk.

Dorabella would never forgive him if he did. Antonio then looked to where his wife was stood, gesturing to the doorway expectantly.

"I mussst go. Assss ssshould you," Lucretia hastened, reaching high to pet Charity's cheek in a fond goodbye.

"Wait, you're not fightin'?" Li-Anne queried.

"Oh no, they banned me from the battlefield in my youth," Lucretia explained. "They couldn't win againsssst me once I got sssstarted on ssssomething, and no one could perssssuade me to work alongssssside them. No, my appearancessss out there were a rare, but bloody occurrence. I preferred to watch them sssstruggle without my assssssissssstance mossst of the time…"

"But you married Antonio, who probably pestered you?" Hari couldn't quite wrap her head around this fact Lucretia had just divulged. Lucretia had been stubborn, persistent and a hard task master, but she didn't strike Hari as a ruthless warrior.

Lucretia nodded at this, "Yessss, he wasss the only one to appreciate my ssssofter sssside. The fact that I could punch him through a brick wall sssshould I choossssse to do ssso alsssso intrigued him."

Hari paled, glad that she had just done as Lucretia commanded and tottered unstably in her new shoes.

On that note, the pirates and their young charge left. As they neared the gateway to Level Eight the battle cries filled the air. An aria of promised rage, loosened upon the Level's inhabits and chilling to the bone to hear with one's own ears.

* * *

Level Eight was a welcomed reprieve from the general lunacy, harsh landscapes and threats the crew had traversed past so far in Shi's Kingdom.

It had no notable features, other than that it was wide and open; like a lush green hillside on an overcast day. They had tied the ship's guide rope to a nearby boulder; the rock was smooth enough to be silken to the touch, and they found themselves relaxing ever more in this gentle place.

Soft gentle wisps of mist flickered over the water's surface; whether the water was warmer, or clouds of a sort had descended upon then, the pirates did not know. Either way, the curling patterns were beckoning- disarmingly easy to watch as they danced over the gentle ripples in the water.

Nothing had attempted to sneak up on them, apprehend them, or incite idiocy yet; in fact, the place seemed deserted. This was something they all secretly wished would remain, and they offered their hopes of a drama-free experience in just one Level to whomever would listen. Perhaps then they could finally escape the confines of the Kingdom with their sanity intact.

Hideki had been sporadically checking in on Marvin. The Den-Den Mushi had recovered somewhat from the incessant calls from Elena, however any attempt to ring out was cancelled mysteriously.

No calls were received by them, either.

Hari coughed wetly, folding over in half as it racked its way up her thorax to her throat.

"… You okay?" Hideki laid a hand on his Captain's back, one eye eternally watching Charity as she scampered about on the deck entertained by the mist's curiosities.

"Yeah," Hari swiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. "Don't know where that came from, truthfully."

The three pirates deliberated for a while over whether it truly was safe to close the cabin door on the Levels for the night- both literally and metaphorically. They were tired of constantly being on edge however, and opted for an early night after some supper. Should they wake up in the morning to find an unexpected guest, an army, some maniac or even a monster on the other side of the cabin door, it would no longer surprise them. Such was the way of this place, and while the experience they had garnered by sailing through the Levels had desensitised them somewhat to the oddities Shi's Kingdom had to offer, it was no excuse to grow complacent. No, they were merely accepting and accommodating to whatever stood before them, with a healthy dose of suspicion to variegate the normality of events that should be anything but mundane to them.

Roughly an hour or so after they had snuggled under the covers in their respective beds (with Hari and Li-Anne still bunking together in Li-Anne's room; though why they still did this, they weren't sure, as Charity had taken to curling up beside Hideki- the latter relaxing in his sleep as his pseudo sibling and young charge settled down next to his ribs) did the crashing begin.

Scampered hands and feet, heavy items being flung and dropped here and there. Conspicuous muttering and crowing, joyful exclamations could be heard from the general vicinity of the kitchen.

Li-Anne sat bolt upright in bed worriedly. She shook Hari's shoulder, but the younger woman refused to wake, snorting and mumbling as she tossed and turned on her side of the mattress.

"Some use you are, meanwhile my ship is bein' robbed," Li-Anne grumbled.

Slipping out of bed, Li-Anne padded down the hallway to Hideki's room. Noticing that a Charity-sized mound under the covers was suspiciously missing, she prodded the teen awake and queried whether he'd seen the girl since he'd tucked her into Hari's bed earlier.

Considering Hideki shot out of bed in alarm, Li-Anne guessed that was a firm 'No'.

They followed the trail of muffled noises back down the hall to the kitchen, walking as softly as the could on the creaky wooden cabin flooring. Hideki willed his arms to be covered in a strong casing of bark, just in case he needed to deflect anything- whether it be a weapon or a flung object, that came towards them once they entered that room.

As it stood, the kitchen door was wide open.

Hideki and Li-Anne burst into the room, finding Charity perched on the table top with a half-emptied jar of jam in her hands. The tell-tale sticky red ring around her mouth, littered with the seeds of the assorted berries the jam was made of stuck to her lips incriminatingly.

Charity's eyes widened comically.

The jar slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor, and became the source of Hari's awakening. The pirate captain grumpily rose from bed to investigate, only to find Charity caught red-faced by an equally crimson-livid and and bellowing Li-Anne. Hideki didn't look very happy either, though his issue was not so much the irreplaceable food, and more the fact that Charity could have hurt herself during the night and they wouldn't have known it until they woke up.

"We ain't got much food left, and you decide to go an' do this?" Li-Anne gestured to the utter carnage around her. Not much hadn't been pulled from the cupboards as Charity nibbled on various things she had found from all over the kitchen. "Why would you do this? For Roger's sake- why didn't you just wake one of us if you wanted somethin' to eat?"

Charity hunched in on herself, and Hideki relented.

"… Enough…" Li-Anne whirled to face the Devil Fruit user, her hands resting powerfully on her hips.

"And you would jus' let her off the hook then? Just like that?" She pressed; Charity perked up a little, knowing that if Hideki came to her defence that her scolding might not be as intense.

"… I didn't say th_"

"Oh? So you think that your own disciplinary skills are better huh? Fine. You deal with her!" Li-Anne snapped, flouncing from the room. Scant seconds passed before her bedroom door slammed shut, making them all flinch.

Hari bit into her lower lip, muffling her sigh; "Hideki, why don't you take Charity to get cleaned up and tucked back into bed with you?"

The tall teen nodded, wordlessly shepherding the younger girl from the room. Hari closed the door after them, found herself a broom from the pantry and a spare burlap sack, then set to work. She coughed wetly, as she had done earlier and several times that evening in between. It took her a moment to catch her breath, but soon she was off and cleaning again.

It took her longer to tidy up than it had Charity to make the mess; with Hari wincing occasionally when shards of stray glass jars pricked into her skin, or when crumbs stuck to her skin. The remains of the jam had been the hardest to remove; by the time she had got to it, it had set and become a sticky trap for anything that had the misfortune to meet the spilt puddle. Methodically scrubbing at the patch with warm water and a sturdy wash cloth became back breaking, tiring work.

Hari made no attempt to stumble back to her room after she finished tidying; her eyelids were leaden weights, her body a unified ensemble of exhausted aches. She felt so tired. She flopped down by a set of cupboards, instantly falling to sleep as soon as her back met the wooden doors.

* * *

Hideki woke some hours later with the familiar weight of Charity's head pressed against his rib cage. The younger girl, who he had taken to looking after much as he had done with Jun when the pair were still small and before he had eaten the Ki Ki no Mi, found his bony frame to more comfortable than a pillow or the mattress they slept on for some reason. Generally, at this point in the morning, Hideki could hear Li-Anne working away in the kitchen, and the faint sound of Hari and Li-Anne's bickering would find its way to his room.

However, on this particular morning only silence met his ears.

Hideki chose not to wake Charity. He pulled her body lightly upwards along the mattress, until her head rested on the pillow and he could tuck the simple coverlet under her chin.

It took the third member of the Pom-Pom Pirates scant moments for his stride to devour the hallway outside of his room. He cautiously opened the door to the kitchen, hoping that the silence conveyed an empty room and not a still fuming Li-Anne quietly stomping about.

A quiet but angry Li-Anne was worse than a Li-Anne that screamed until she was blue at you, Hideki had found.

To his relief, the kitchen was empty of the former, but his Captain had slumped against the cupboards at some point during the night. Considering that the room was spotless, it was probably after she had finished cleaning. One thing was for certain, Hari was due for a stiff neck and back when she woke up. How she had lain there all night without waking, he wasn't sure.

Hideki stepped towards her, shaking Hari's shoulder lightly. She groaned and shifted without waking, so he repeated the action once more.

"Dad," Hari whimpered, her arms stretching outwards to an unseen figure and startling Hideki. "Help me…"

* * *

Inside Hari's head, there was fire.

She was trapped inside the burning carcass of Argyles- had been for some time at that point, numbly breathing in the smoke; the ring of keys she had took with her after boarding Junky for the second time which she had thrown away after gaining her Captain sentence were in her hands. She fingered them as though to draw comfort from the cold metal.

The world around her was burning.

The mannequins that once proudly displayed clothes she had lovingly crafted from wisps of imagination were dripping to the floor as easily as an ice cream cone melting under the fierce summer sun.

 _This couldn't be real,_ she reasoned. It was all in her head, because nothing of Argyles remained, and had been irreplaceably damaged for the best part of half a year now.

The floating embers and flickering tongues of fire were highly convincing though; enough to stun her into standing numbly behind the burning shop's counter- enough to convince her not to run through the burnt-off front door, or to dive through the windows. The glass had shattered under the pressure of the heat long ago, yet she had not moved.

She coughed and spluttered, body shaking and shuddering away from the imaginary flicker of roaring flames. Illusionary wafts of smoke, floating embers and ash had her gasping for breath; another bought of coughing racked Hari's body. She could do nothing.

* * *

"…Hari-" Hideki reached out to touch her shoulder, but his Captain screeched and recoiled from the touch as though she had been burned.

In Hari's mind, however, she had.

In her dream-induced state, Hari sharply turned to see the flesh of her shoulder, molten and rippling from where fire had caressed her. It was pulling away from her bones, like curling dead flower petal shrivelled eventually. She was being burnt away, just as Argyle's Haberdashery had.

"It burns!" She screeched, unhelpfully. Tears sprung from her eyes; she didn't dare pat away the fire eating at her clothing, she didn't dare scold herself. "Help me- please. It hurts so much-"

She gasped, her hand clawing unseeingly through the gathering smoke. Why would her father leave her to burn?

Wait. That wasn't quite right. Argyle had been dead for some time before the shop had ignited. Pain blossomed across her back, and Hari howled from agony. The fire was clawing at her now, toying scratching at her skin and eradicating everything it touched. Faces in the smoke haunted her- her father's, Pat's, Li-Anne's. They danced mockingly around her as the fire converged.

"Help me!" She cried, unsure as to whether she should just give in and let herself burn.

Hideki had begun to worry at this point. Hari had been crying out for a few minutes. Each time her stretched out to console her, rubbing his hand lightly across her back to try and sooth away her night terrors, she would shriek and shy away from his touch.

Nothing would cease her shuddering. Every now and then she would release a giant hacking cough, gasping for air after every heave.

She had begged him to put out the fire, or so he believed. There was nothing alight in the room, nothing that could cause-

 _Oh_.

Something tickled Hideki's memory, a vague mention of fire in Hari's past that he had tucked away in his memory and completely forgotten.

"Put it out! Out, out, out! Please!" Hari wept. Her tears were flowing thickly, freely now. Hideki wasn't sure whether this was from fear, or because true illusionary smoke had stimulated the reaction.

He scrambled into motion, hurdling Hari's outstretched legs to find an empty glass. He hastily filled it with water from the tap, racing to dump the full contents over her and fill the glass once again. But this process wasn't quick enough to halt Hari's pained whimpers. Frantic, Hideki turned the taps on fully, allowing it to fill the washing up bowl Li-Anne used to wash their dishes in. It kept the cutlery from clinking against the sink, or so Li-Anne said.

When the washing up tub was full- and only then, did Hideki lift it from the sink and overturn it on his Captain.

The water was sweet and blissful as it rushed through the burnt doorway and windows. Steam rose from where the fires were extinguished, engulfing Hari in a pleasant, warm bath of water and vapours. The air smelt faintly salty, and Hari could only thank the ocean once more as it delivered her away from sources of heart ache.

The saltwater, though it pricked at cuts and stung the raw wounds leaving Logue Town had left, had washed away the horrid illusions for now. It had allowed her a freedom of her own choices she had never known before stepping onto Junky. For that, Hari thanked the ocean.

She breathed in clear air, smiling gently. The heaviness to her limbs had been lifted; fear no longer manacled her to the burning image of Argyle's Haberdashery.

Hari opened her eyes.

She blinked, and then frowned down at her appearance.

"Hideki…" She asked blankly, "Why am I all wet?"

* * *

They found Li-Anne awake, stood stock-still in her room. Her eyes were wide open, but glazed and unseeing.

"Gin…" The word fell softly from Li-Anne's mouth.

She smiled.

It quickly dropped as her expression contorted to a snarl.

Hari grimaced; "I kind of don't want to know, but there's another part of me suggesting I poke the hornet's nest a bit, y'know?"

Hideki shook his head unsurely. It was better to avoid angry Li-Annes, hornets and anything else considered volatile when provoked or vaguely irritated without assistance. That is, if one's name wasn't Hari, or you were unhinged, of course.

"Do you think we can just leave her here like that for a bit?" Hari asked. "I need to change, and well-" Here she glanced at Li-Anne's vacant expression, "I don't think she's volatile at the moment. It could give us some time to work out what's going on."

Hari's stomach rumbled furiously.

"And to feed ourselves, I suppose," she finished.

* * *

The first time that Li-Anne saw him, on her home island, he'd been half-drunk and surrounded by his crew. He'd sat there, sloshed, with the aura of a gentleman gone rogue. His shirt sleeves were damp from spilled ale and moth-ravaged. The velvet finery of his coat also patched and pock-marked, though in places the fabric still held its lustre.

He couldn't have been much older than her.

She found him beautiful.

To him, she was only a joke.

His men had jeered about the child in the tavern; kicking up a storm until the proprietor forced her out for her own safety. Or so she had thought back then. Now however, she knew she'd been removed so that the landlord could keep his custom happy and willing to part with their Beris.

The second time they met, she had seated herself on the sandy beach on the island's coast to draw a rough blueprint in the damp dunes with a piece of driftwood before she transferred it to her expensive paper- a commodity she could not afford and coveted when she could. Not a scrap of her drafted work went to waste, the paper always finding a way to be recycled into something else.

He'd snuck away from his men for the day and stumbled across her. Mildly curious, he watched her work and struck up a conversation.

His name was Gin, for the streak of permanently silver hair in a mass of black curls he would tuck behind his ears self-consciously. She'd stuttered out her own name in response, and their lives changed from then on.

Li-Anne had a talent for tinkering, and an even greater one for demolition if her temper exploded. While her skill could not be called magnificent, like the people of Pastello Island, and unlike the shipwrights of Water 7, she had no grand plans for inventing or crafting a ship from the very start- only to modify what had already been fashioned. She knew that Gin was a pirate. She knew that some pirates did bad things, and others remained neutral in the pursuit of freedom and satisfying their own agenda.

Gin was obsessed with Grand Line- not the pursuit of One Piece, or conquering islands like the Yonko; but with charming his way into many societies, flirting with danger and twisting it from a threat to neutrality. Perhaps this made him more than a little cracked and untrustworthy? Li-Anne considered herself to be a good judge of character for one so young.

She also knew that pirates- Gin especially, could turn on her in an instance should they so wish. In fact, that wasn't just restricted to the outlaws of the sea, but plain of people. Gin was a man who knew how to say the correct words with impeccable timing; a man who could survey a person's emotions and bend the situation he was in to his liking depending on how they felt. He was canny and clever, and rakishly attractive, but Li-Anne couldn't trust him as far as she could throw him. despite her work with tinkered weaponry, and the strength she drew from that, she wouldn't be able to hurl a fully-grown man of Gin's stature far at all.

Her caution proved to be useful. No sooner had she agreed to modify Gin's galleon for a 'small' fee, easily accessible to pirates, did he propose to pay up when she procured the work. Li-Anne, sweet, naïve Li-Anne readily agreed if meant she got to cut her teeth on a real live pirate ship. He told her he liked Li-Anne's youthfulness and excitement, and she took it as a rosy complement; feeling her cheeks heat slightly from the curious way he looked at her. Gin had wished her to never grow up, and with his flattering tongue he could have asked her to walk out into high tide and she would do it without question so long as he stood beside her. Without him, she wouldn't move an inch. She vowed to keep her youth and to keep him, and it was possible that whoever had been listening when she uttered those secret whims had listened. She hated her dewy skin and lack of height. She hated that she would age but her body wouldn't in the end. At the time, she saw it as a blessing. Gin was there, and she was happy just to be beside him.

Gin had assured her that he'd be there and that she'd find her payment delivered personally. Li-Anne relented and set to work. If he took note of her budding feelings, he did not mention it to her. When she grew despondent in his presence, he'd butter her up with pretty words. It caused her to work with tenfold the productivity:

She'd treated the interior of the ship to protect the wood, hand-painted the cursive lettering on the bow so that the whole of the Blues and Grand Line when he finally took them there that the Silver Pirates sailed in _Sweetling_.

She sculpted the figurehead from the wide trunk of a fallen tree, agonising over the woman's sublime features, and that she hadn't quite got the shape of her hands correct. Gin had approached a local blacksmith on the island with a few trinkets he was willing to spare; the men he took with him observed eagle-eyed and overtly suspicious while the blacksmith melted the trinkets down, just in case one or two of the items made their way into his pocket. Then, with less precision that Li-Anne had taken to carve it out, did Gin tip the molten metal over the figurehead.

Li-Anne nearly tore him in half for desecrating the lovingly carved woman she had made, but held her tongue. He could have always backed out of giving her money then, should she threaten to castrate him with a desert spoon.

She should have taken the chance to rant and rave while she could.

When she came to collect her payment, Sweetling had secretly sailed away through the night.

Li-Anne seethed with unending anger for three or more years, fixing up a ravaged ship near to capsizing; she patched its holes, took what fabric she could find or bargain for and created sails. She later dyed them in bright colours, and continued the trend through the cabin. The furniture was a mishmash of hand-me-downs, scrap pieces, and junk, but with a little time and Li-Anne's never ending will to set sail in pursuit of the man who had conned her ensured that everything came together in the end.

She sailed for a following seven years manually by herself, letting the wind guide her and dropping anchor when she tired. She was tired an awful lot. She gathered money and supplies as she could- sometimes honourably, sometimes questionably. She avoided people who would hurt her intentionally, and separated herself from people who would offer her shelter. Li-Anne's trust had been broken for the final time, and it had been a fragile thing even before Gin had shattered it to pieces. She took his departure as a slight upon her craftsmanship, and while she didn't trust him, she would have called him friend. Now however, it was best she stayed alone.

In the seventh year of touring the blues, making multiple laps to check on islands she had been to before and to explore some she hadn't yet reached, Li-Anne tinkered with the ship she had affectionately decided to call 'Junky'. She met a man in North Blue whose age had seeped into his bones. That didn't stop him from forging metal and creating heating systems for the homes of people who lived in North Blue's frigid landscapes.

He happily taught her how to assemble components together once she explained how she was sailing by herself and with the pure assistance of mother nature.

Two years later, she finally sailed to Logue Town.

Then, she met Hari.

Scant months later, after scouring the four Blues for the Gin and his Silver Pirates to deliver their reckoning, she finally found them in Shi's Kingdom.

The swinging cage that held a man's skeleton, she knew it was his. It wore the scraps of the tattered velvet coat Gin coveted. It was the type of situation he would land himself in too. Expect this time Gin met his match in a paranoid and wrathful Dis. Gin had partaken in both her and Thrandin's heartbreak.

Holy Mariejois, Gin had _procreated_.

If she had any control of her body while these tormenting memories played in her mind, Li-Anne would shudder.

Gin had perished in his punishment, and his crew had sailed on. They had fallen to Leviathan without their leader there to negotiate their safe passage through Level Six. Sweeting had been waiting there, for who knew how long, until by chance Li-Anne, Hari, Hideki and Charity had reached Leviathan's Level. Then they'd blown the galleon apart.

Surprisingly, knowing that she had done this brought Li-Anne not even a little slither of peace.

The memories waned, and Li-Anne felt herself drifting; it was a curious sensation- as though she was being pulled along by lapping waves, and like her body was being kneaded, stretched and tugged out of and into shape.

When she next took breath, she was back in the tavern; watching Gin spill ale onto the table and accidently mopping it up with his shirtsleeves.

* * *

Hari had managed to feed herself after her father had passed away. Somewhat poorly, of course, and often relying on the various eateries of Logue Town- but she survived. Li-Anne was the one to do most of the cooking these days, as the designated ship's Chef. Hari had become spoiled for things to eat, and now, with Charity griping about being hungry, and Hideki- who's appetite could match his height in size, Hari was at a loss for what to make.

Their perishables were long gone, and it had been a while since Hari had used a stove. She cursed under her breath, hoping that Charity wouldn't hear her not censoring her language in a momentary lapse of panic. Hari opened one last set of cupboards in the futile hunt for easy food. The half a box of opened cereal, and another fresh box she found could have been sent from higher powers, and felt she could almost weep in relief. She slat the two boxes on the kitchen table and hurriedly ripped some crockery from the towering piles amassing in the sink without Li-Anne there to wash up, rinsed each bowl she found, and assigned it a semi-clean spoon before transferring it to next to the cereal boxes on the table.

Hideki rose his eyebrows at her when she sat down adjacent to him.

"I know, I know," she groaned, eyeing the growing pile of washing up. "We need to sort this out, but I thought Li-Anne took first priority."

It had been two days now since Hideki woke Hari from her waking terror, and they were yet to rescue Li-Anne from hers. The woman cycled through the same dream-induced expressions unendingly, and the two remaining pirates had come to the conclusion that it was yet again something in the Levels that was affecting them. Li-Anne went from happy- and dare Hari say it, love struck, to irritated, to livid, and through several variations of stubborn determination before switching back to livid, then on to resigned, before repeating the cycle once more.

Something slid down in the precarious washing up pile and clattered to the floor. The rest wobbled, and threatened to follow.

Hideki turned to Hari once more.

"Let's hope she wakes up soon?" The Pirate Captain replied sheepishly.

"…Lets…"

Li-Anne didn't wake up the next day, or the day after that. Hari was becoming concerned for her health; without being snapped out of whatever she was viewing, Li-Anne couldn't eat nor take care of herself. She was quite literally frozen until she was rescued.

"Do you think…" Hari began softly as she sat at the kitchen table for another lack-lustre breakfast. "Do you think that it's something in the Level causing this? Every time we've been somewhere, it's the person guarding it that controls what happens inside, right?"

Hideki nodded distractedly, running a napkin over Charity's messy hands.

"So, we need to find whoever it is causing this. At first I thought it was the mist- because Li-Anne and I were outside when we first entered. But so were you and Charity, and you've not experienced…" Hari's eyes turned glassy, "... whatever that was."

She cleared her throat by coughing loudly and clearly, and Hideki was relieved to hear that it lacked the wetness in it that he had heard days before. Hari had been choking on illusionary smoke long before her nightmare had begun. While he didn't know for certain that he'd quenched the flames forever, they had positively been dampened. They flickered with the intensity of a candle now, and could no longer scorch Hari's fragile skin.

"We have two options."

"…"

"One, we either hang around and risk losing Cain's trail by finding whatever it is doing this- and therefore forcing them to release Li-Anne."

"…Two?"

"Two…" Hari smiled grimly. "We leave and hope for the best. If we physically remove ourselves from the Level's influence, maybe then she'll snap out of it without a constant stimulus there."

Hideki's brow creased in though, though the action was hidden behind his mop of black curls. "… What do we do… Captain?"

Hari's attention drifted to the kitchen doorway and beyond, as though the wood-panelled walls could not confine her vision from seeing the staircase hidden just behind them. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as she thought.

"I… I want to check outside on the deck first," she admitted. "There's been a disturbing trend of things- and people, trying to kill us up there, so maybe the Level's Guardian will reveal themself. Seeing as you're the only one capable of moving the ship if we're all incapacitated, and the only one to not experience… well, it only seems fitting I go up there first. You know how to steer and start Junky's motor. I don't care how long it takes you in all that mist, or if you dent the ship, just find the gateway out of here."

He nodded gravely.

"Li-Anne will probably flay you alive with a spoon if you damage Junky though, so try and keep the damage to a minimum."

The scrunching of his nose and a pained twist of his lips signalled that Hideki understood and took the threat of harming Li-Anne's baby extremely seriously.

"Hideki," Hari started, "If I go up there and then start screaming about fire again… please have another bucket of water ready."

* * *

Charity had been told to wait in Hari's room, and had been given a large sheet of baking parchment and a few odd-bod pencils to keep her entertained. Li-Anne still stood dazed and furious in her trance. Hideki waited in the kitchen with several large tubs filled to the brim with water.

And Hari…

Hari was trying to ascend the staircase to the upper deck as slowly as she could. So slowly, in fact, that it was positively painful to watch her do so.

"O-kay. I've got this," she whispered encouragingly to herself as she reached the top step, her hand resting lightly on the door handle. She faltered. "I don't got this."

Sweat began to bead on her forehead as Hari deliberated over her task. Her plan was the best course of action to take, or so it had seemed to be in her head roughly half an hour ago, but now her old cowardice was kicking in. Her knees knocked, her fingers trembled, and she felt fear begin to grip at her.

Flames could very well await her on the other side of the door, and Hari didn't know whether she was prepared to lose herself to the dream-like state again. It had crept upon her as she fell into slumber by the kitchen cupboards. It had burnt her in ways that losing the Haberdashery had not; her frantic screams for someone to save her from being seared in the engulfing flames going unnoticed had sent her into a deeper frenzy. She had called for her father, and of course, he had not answered. Not even a dream could bring back the dead, it would appear. The betrayal from Argyle's refusal to answer and aid her stung more than it should have, and was intensified by her desire to escape. Burning alive in the Haberdashery, Hari had realised that she was truly alone in the world, and when her screams became too painful and octave to release, she gave in. She whispered of something to put the fire out, feeling numb.

Then the water had doused her off, and she snapped out of her waking-nightmare.

She wasn't alone. She had Hideki and Li-Anne- and the support of many other misfits she had met through their travels on Grand Line.

They wouldn't leave her to burn, and she certainly wouldn't abandon them in that situation either. So why were her legs shaking uncontrollably in a situation very similar, when she would willingly offer herself in Li-Anne's place otherwise?

Hari's nostrils flared as she took in a large, calming deep breath. She twisted the door handle and stepped out into the mist.

The world around her was white; the mist almost cloud-like in its consistency and opacity.

It was calming to watch as it danced and swirled about her- comforting even. Hari shook her head as though to clear it. The mist was part of the Level's influence, she realised. It lulled you softly in to darkened dreams. It was the precursor to torment.

"You kept me waiting long enough," sounded a disembodied voice. It echoed and ricocheted off of things unseen, screened safely from the weapon Hari quickly drew from her hip pouch. Hari could not discern where the voice originated from, and therefore, could not attack. They were at a stalemate already, and the Pirate Captain had only stepped two feet away from the doorway as of yet.

"I though you would be ashes by now," whoever it was that spoke continued. "You are lucky the tall one was there to help you."

"Who are you?" Hari bellowed wildly. "Where are you?!"

"I am Rhiannon," they whispered against the back of Hari's neck. "And I am in your head."

Hari whirled to face them in a panic, her enlarged crochet hook in hand ready to bat Rhiannon away. She turned to face nothing, and spun around again. The mists darkened and swirled. The ethereal pristine white dirtying to a dark ashen grey. Rhiannon stood amongst it all, tall and reed-like in her chaste, drab white garb; a shapeless tunic running from just below her chin to the toes of her bare, bony feet. A veil of opaque tulle hid her features underneath a hood crafted from the same material as her robes.

"Poor little Pirate Captain," Rhiannon mocked, and Hari stepped forward; ready to knock the woman out. "Nobody will save you this time- and you will submit."

She disappeared in a light dusting of what appeared to be snowflakes just as Hari neared her. The mist converged again, and Hari's world was set aflame.

Fire licked at every inch of her skin, and she couldn't help the scream that ripped from her throat.

Hideki, upon hearing the desolate cry, raced up the stairs with two of the assembled tubs of water. He rushed his way to the deck as briefly as he could without spilling it all. There he found Hari, collapsed on the floor. Her crochet hook had rolled from her hands as she writhed, and without her influence, it had shrunk back to its original size- narrowly missing dropping into a narrow gap in the decking. Fire that he could not see consumed her. He dumped each bucket on his Captain, and raced back for some more.

Yet the fire would not abate.

"It won't work," Rhiannon informed him solemnly. "Not this time."

Hideki dumped another tub of water on Hari anyway, if only to dampen her mewled screams.

"What I don't understand is why they don't just give in. If they did that, it would stop," Rhiannon continued. "Yet they're continuing to fight it."

"… Afraid," Hideki panted, having raced back for another tub of water.

"What do they possibly have to be afraid of? If they let go of their sin and embrace this purge of their minds, it will be for the best. I am the Weaver of Pipe Dreams! What better way to live one's life than in a world solely of your own ideals? No pain, no suffering, no hatred…."

Hideki stilled, and Hari whimpered on the decking. Having run out of water containers, and knowing that he had little time to go and fill them back up, he decided instead to use Hari's back up plan.

Diplomacy was out, as was saving his Captain. It was down to him to save the day, singlehandedly.

"But you," Rhiannon titled her head. "You don't have any fears within you anymore. At least, not one's I can exploit. Both you and the child are untouchable, yet I have so much to offer!"

Rhiannon disintegrated once more into the mist, reappearing beside him. One of her skeletal hands wrapped around his forearm, her nails clenching into his skin; "Tell me why you do not fear."

Hideki shook his head.

 _"Tell me!"_

He tugged his arm away from her grip, and she screeched; exploding into a flurry of furious snowflakes. Hideki dashed to the wheel and the motor ripcord, be Rhiannon formed once more in front of him.

"The elder one is afraid of abandonment- her love betrayed her yet she refuses to cease revenge on him! She's seen him already, dead- and yet she will not quit! And your precious Captain- if only she'd stayed in the flames. Maybe then it would not hurt her so much! Maybe then she would be with her mother and father again."

Rhiannon puffed, her hands reaching out to him imploringly; "What is it that you desire? What is it that has taken away all your fear? What do you have left to lose so that I can help you find it again? we can perfect it, whatever it be- I promise."

"…Nothing…"

"What?"

"I have nothing to lose," he told her simply, and taking advantage of her momentary confusion, he summoned some vines with his Devil Fruit abilities and batted her away. Then, he lunged for the rip cord and pulled. Junky stirred into life, and Hari shrieked from where she had curled up on the floor. The jostling boat had stoked the imaginary flames once more, and she- in her mind now a blackened char surrounded by cinders, felt them bite at what remained of her flesh.

Steering Junky as carefully as he could through the unknown, Hideki pushed the ship onwards in search of the entrance to Level Nine.

"You must have something precious to you than can be ripped away-" Rhiannon wheedled overhead, disembodied in her nightmare inducing mist. Hideki shook his head again. "What of your family?"

"…Broken..." Taichi had made sure of that.

"Friends?"

"…Have none…" It was true, he had no friends of his own back on Isola Giungla. He considered Li-Anne and Hari to be more than just friends now; the sensation of having 'nakama' was foreign but entirely pleasing.

"Lover?"

He dared not to glance at the incapacitated Pirate Captain on the deck behind him, "…Nope..."

The mists weakened around him, becoming patchy and losing their overwhelming opacity. Through it he could see an archway. He shifted Junky up a gear, hoping to reach the entrance to the next Level quickly.

"Look above you," Rhiannon commanded, and Hideki felt spindly fingers lift his chin skyward. Dangling from what looked to be caterpillar crystallises. He had seen them before when he walked through the jungle section of his home island. Butterflies would emerge from them after some time, and would fly away. He recalled himself being envious of their freedom. "They all submitted to me, took the offers I extended to them. It is what will happen to your Crew mates should they just stop fighting. It is dark and peaceful in the cocoons. Nothing can hurt you both in and outside of them while I protect this Level, I promise-"

Hideki conjured a vine to sneakily grab her from behind. It looped its thorny stem about the Guardian's torso, trapping her arms firmly to her sides. The more Rhiannon struggled, the more the vine's tightened around her.

"…I said no," Hideki said shortly, and with a dismissive flick of his hand the vine reared back, rocking forwards and backwards; gaining momentum. While Rhiannon became disorientated in the rocking movement of the vine that trapped her, Hideki busied himself with steering the ship to the entrance to Level Nine. When he deemed the Guardian was sufficiently dizzied (he could tell this by how her control slipped over the mist; she found it rather difficult to concentrate while being spun through the air), he released her gently to the nearest surface far away from the boat.

"Stop," Rhiannon pleaded weakly. "Don't go any further, I only want to keep you all safe-"

"I. Said. No," Hideki told her finally, as the ship sailed cleanly through the unblocked, mist-less gateway.

Finding that the ship sailed independently of him inside the tunnel, Hideki relinquished control of Junky and scooped up a dazed Hari. He carried her down into the cabin as carefully as he could, not sure whether Rhiannon's influence still caused her limbs to be littered with illusionary burns.

"Did we do it?" Hari mumbled, staring up at him with bleary, pain-filled eyes.

"…Yes…"

"Oh good," was her reply, before she passed out entirely.

* * *

The first thing Li-Anne did on waking from her stupor was make herself an extra strong cup of coffee.

She then went and had a nap. Four hours later, she woke, showered, dressed herself in a clean dress, and then pressed the rest of her crewmates for what in Holy Mariejois had happened.

It took them a while to rightfully explain, but eventually Hari and Hideki revealed to her the extent of Level Eight's treachery. Charity happily shared the drawings she had made to the three pirates. Even the ones she had started on the walls of Hari's room after she' run out of space on both sides of the baking parchment they'd substituted for paper. She had drawn numerous scenes of her and a large thing stick man, which she had labelled in her childish scrawl to be her brother. Each side of the irregular sized piece of parchment was filled with countless scenarios and whimsical things Charity had either done, dreamt up, or expected to do once reunited with her brother. But on Hari's wall she had drawn the Pirate Captain herself (a pink and blue crayoned stick figure), and tall green stick man that Hari presumed was Hideki whom had a smaller, better-drawn stick girl astride his shoulders in a rich purple felt tip ink, and finally, the small and stumpy stick figure of Li-Anne beside the formers. Charity had worked extra hard to draw in Li-Anne's sunshine yellow dress; she had done so by including a misshapen yellow triangle over the stumpy stick figure's legs for the skirt, with a smaller trapezoid shape for the top.

"You said someone's name," Hari broached tentatively after she had quietly assured Charity she wouldn't erase the drawings and would find a way to keep forever; the small child suggested cheekily that Hari should frame them, and Hari promised she would comply. The coffee mug Li-Anne was drawing to her mouth stilled in its progress. Hari swallowed. "You said the name 'Gin'?"

"I may have done," the elder woman replied sourly.

Hideki frowned, "… You saw him."

Li-Anne said nothing.

"…Rhiannon said he died…"

Li-Anne placed her mug down with a thump onto the table top. "I don't want to-"

"I got figuratively burned alive in my father's shop to try and get us out of this Level, the least you can do is share your experience- for your sake, if not ours," Hari snapped, scratching at her arms distractedly. The phantom pains of scorching skin still persisted to haunt her.

"Look, I didn't want to say anythin'. It was all in past. But yeah, he was…" Li-Anne looked over to Charity. This was something young ears didn't need to hear.

Hideki swiftly clamped his hands over them, much to Charity's confusion. "He not only gypped me, but he broke my heart. Then I find out we ended up in the same place he died, that he'd knocked up a woman and jilted her- and then we go and bloody blow his old ship up."

"Ah…" Hari winced. "He was the man in the cage."

"Too damn right he was," Li-Anne snarled. "Right where he belonged- but _bugger me I wasn' the one to put him there!"_

Hideki had been content to let the ship sail itself, but as they plowed in to something unseen with a raucous racket during the height of Li-Anne's snarling tirade, he almost wished he'd been up on deck steering and far removed from Li-Anne's impending anger.

"What was that?!" The elder woman cried, sprinting out on the deck before either could calm her.

Hideki and Hari rushed out after her, halting when they fully took in the full extent of Level Nine. The last Level they would have to face.

"It's… It's just grass," Hari mumbled.

Indeed, Hari was not wrong. For all their eyes could see there was soft swaying grass. The crash of water from inside the tunnel had given way to the mild rustle of a meadow, and they had strangely sailed effortlessly through an open green plane up until they hit something. She raced to the rear end of the ship, dangling precariously over the railings to see where the water to grass ratio became unbalanced. It was as though they had never been sailing on water all this time. All that surrounded them was grass.

Far off into the distance there was a tree. Hideki squinted to see it in further detail, but Li-Anne rather sensibly reached for her kiddy binoculars.

"Hey, there's someone out there!" She cried, fiddling with the magnification on the binoculars. "Wait, make that two people."

One of the two figures waved invitingly, and Li-Anne lowered her binoculars contemplatively, "Well, at least they're not tryin' to scare the livin' shite out of me again. Whadda' we do Captain?"

Hari took the binoculars as Li-Anne offered them to her, lifting them to her eyes as she scoped out the situation. She hummed thoughtfully, "The ship isn't going any further considering we bashed into solid ground. How about we go and check it out?"

Hideki slung himself over Junky's railings; Hari handed Charity down to him first, then Li-Anne. Finally, she allowed herself to dangle from the edge of the ship waiting for him to catch her. He lowered her gently, and she wobbled slightly when her high-heel encased feet touched the solid ground. Grass tickled at her ankles, disappearing up the wide, flaring legs of her trousers.

"Better get walking then," Hari encouraged with a smile. Li-Anne scowled slightly. "Hopefully they're not hostile…?"

"You'd better hope they're not," the elder woman returned grouchily. She snatched the binoculars from where Hari had strung them by her hip pouch. Raising them to her eyes once more, Li-Anne sighed; "I'm fairly sure this is goin' to be a bad idea."

"Then why did you put me in charge?" Hari asked. Hideki disguised his snort by kicking at the rustling grass round him.

Li-Anne didn't grace them with an answer.

The trek through the sea of grass took them longer than anticipated. Charity went through frequent bouts of wanted to run through it, before she tired or became bored and insisted on being carried by Hideki. Once atop his shoulders, she would settle for a few minutes before she tired of the boring landscape. Li-Anne also tired of trekking through the undergrowth. Some of the blades of grass were taller than her, and reached to just below Hari's shoulders. Hideki of course, had no trouble tromping through it all, and lead the way to the tree; flattening the grass for them and laying out a pathway as he went.

Li-Anne whistled lowly as they drew closer, "That is one ugly tree…"

It was indeed. The tree's trunk was broad; the branches towering skywards more so than they did outwards were abundantly filled with crisp green leaves. The bark upon the trunk was what struck the pirates the most. Facing them as they walked towards the tree was a large jagged mouth, and angular, smirking eyes hollowed out of the tree trunk. Where it had been gouged, the tree wept sap and withered from decay. Hari shuddered, as did many of the others.

"Charity?" Called an incredulous, gritty voice.

"Big brother!" The girl in question screeched, pelting forwards through the grass to one of the figures once sat by the tree.

Cain was a likeness of his sister, yet his hair shone darker and his eyes were darker- less trusting than the child's. Not quite as tall as Hideki-Cain- if that was truly him that was sweeping Charity up into his arms, still stood taller than Hari. He'd clothed himself in odd fitting, patched garments that didn't really coordinate with one another; the trials and tribulations of not looking the preverbal gift horse in the mouth and also making do with what he could mend, Hari gathered.

"I was going to come back for you, I swear!" Cain told Charity with a solemn fervour.

Charity bit back a grin, patting her hands across the stubble that lined Cain's jaw and chin, and nodded. She knew this. Her faith in her brother's return hadn't waned, only her patience.

"I know," she told him. "But I wanted to come find you."

"For our first stow-away, I have to say Charity has been a model example, don't you Li-Anne?"

The latter snorted, "Suppose so. Still not quit forgiven her for the night-time pantry raid or vandalism' my ship."

Cain's fond, adoring expressing from being reunited with his sister immediately dropped; "Tell me you didn't." Charity shied away from meeting his gaze. "Charity, how many times have I told you that you can't do that with other people's belongings-"

"Now now, Cain, don't lecture the girl after she's just found you."

"Samuel, Charity's a growing girl now and she should know better," Cain grit out, his hands tightening on Charity.

'Samuel' made his presence known soon after Cain's announcement, sliding round the side of the tree trunk. He was as tall as Cain, with shoulder length mousey brown curls that refused to be held back from his face. There was a beauty about him; a sculpted physiognomy and noble aura that only nobility could channel. Li-Anne blinked when taking in his appearance, sure that she had seen lighter streaks in his hair catch the light.

"She's only excited to see you my friend, and children are often prone to bouts of ill behaviour. You cannot tell me that you yourself haven't once been scolded for doing something you shouldn't have," Samuel pouted playfully at the other male, but his eyes were intently focused on a quivering Charity held aloft in her brother's arms.

Cain ignored his companion, glancing at him warily from the corner of his eye as Charity timidly tucked her nose into the crook of his neck. Samuel had yet to cease staring at the girl, curiosity was painted across his features with an intensity that neither Cain nor the amassed pirates decided was appropriate.

"I must thank you for bringing my sister to me," Cain expressed to Hari. "Thank you all for protecting her in my stead. I was wrong to leave her in the Borderlands, I know, but I could not willingly bring her with me if I did couldn't tell what awaited me."

"I understand you wholeheartedly," Li-Anne drawled. "Wish we'd had a heads up a few times back there. Glad we're at the end of it all though."

Cain smiled thinly, "I know how you feel. Thought I was a done for when I met Leviathan."

While this conversation took place, Hideki's attention had turned to the twisted expression carved into the trunk of the tree. He stepped aside and drew close to it, his fingertips caressing the jagged bark and his Akuma no Mi abilities memorising what breed the tree was exactly. The slit, predatory mouth and demonic eyes were not naturally occurring. The tree told him as much while it whimpered in pain; it mourned its lost vitality. The sap that seeped from its wounds was a constant train of tears cascading outwards from the brutality racked upon it. Someone had gone to great pains to mutilate this tree; had willingly forced this to happen- and had enjoyed playing about with the details. Hideki felt his jaw clench; out of the two people they had met in this level so far, he only felt trusting of one.

Cain would not harm Charity, therefore it wasn't within him to do such a thing to nature.

Samuel was not to be trusted. Hideki would keep himself alert and watchful for now, until the man in question proved himself not to be suspicious.

"How exactly do we get out of here?" Li-Anne questioned Cain. The latter grinned sheepishly before he answered, allowing Charity to run her fingers through his hair. It had been a while since he had seen or held a comb.

"I'm not entirely sure. I had a small rowing boat, but it vanished after my first night here. Samuel wasn't sure what happened either, so we think there might be something living in the grass further out." Cain's face pinched as he asked; "Would you be able to give us both a lift to the next island you reach once we leave? I'm afraid there's nothing here for me to craft a substantial boat or raft with, and well, I no longer have to go back for Charity."

"Of course you can," Hari answered. "We'd be happy to welcome you aboard. Will Samuel be joining you?"

Samuel scowled. "No, I will not be joining you," he sneered.

"O-Oh, okay then," Hari returned, shaken by his abruptness.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Darkness crept into the level. The warm sunshine that glanced off of the swaying grass gradually disappeared.

Cain cleared his throat, "It's late and we'll have to get going tomorrow after I've packed up my things from the camp. Would you mind taking Charity back to your ship for the night?"

Hari was about to answer that it was entirely fine for them to do as such, and that Charity was no trouble at all, but Charity perked up in her brother's arms and began to strongly protest against this.

"NO! I want to stay with you!" She yelped, fingers clenching in Cain's tangled curls.

"Charity I haven't got anywhere for you to sleep out here, and you'd be more comfy inside the ship-"

"IWANNASTAYWITHYOU!" She wailed, clutching at her brother desperately. Cain sighed, looked towards the pirates as though he wasn't sure what was the best course of action and they held the answer, then sighed once more. He tightened his hold on the young girl, letting her snuggle closer.

Relenting, Cain agreed to keep Charity with him for the night while the pirates returned to their ship to rest. Samuel stubbornly ignored them as they exchanged farewells and ventured off back through the grass. Hideki chanced one look over his shoulder half way back to Junky. Charity was happily sat beside her brother before a roaring campfire while Samuel lingered and sulked by the warped tree.

When the time came for the three pirates to fall asleep, Hideki remained alert beneath his coverlet. Hari had stuck her head around the door earlier to wish him goodnight, but he had remained awake ever since. His captain was excited about finally regaining her bed back for the first time in weeks, and hurried off into slumber.

Finally deciding he would get no sleep that night, Hideki pulled the thick cover from his bed, wrapped it about his shoulders, and padded out onto the deck. He felt better out there, with his back against the outside, reassuring, solid wood of Junky's cabin walls. He knew that if he could see or hear anything from coming from the tree in the distance that he would spot it and instantly respond. Feeling more at ease, Hideki pulled his covers tighter around himself and fidgeted until his body found some comfort.

His eyes drew heavy with sleep and fluttered shut not of his own accord. The next time he opened them, dawn was filtering in through Level Nine. Then the glory of the sunrise was cleaved apart by a harrowing scream.

* * *

"What's happened?!" Hari panted, folding over to catch her breath. Hideki had woken both she and Li-Anne, dragging them from their beds. They had pelted across the grassland to Cain and Samuel's campsite, only to find the former slumped before the disturbing mutilated tree with Samuel trying to pull him away with both force and honeyed words.

Hideki faltered, stumbling to his knees near to Cain.

Charity was caught between the tree's jaggedly carved teeth.

Her neck hung at an odd angle.

Her body was coated in the still-leaking, sweet tree sap as she hung, impaled from one protruding, sharp tooth.

She did not move. Everything was stained red. She was deathly still.

No, Hideki amended. His fingers curled into the soft earth between blades of grass as though to tether himself to the ground. She was dead.

And Hideki had a fair idea who had killed her.

Hari stepped forward, her bare feet barely making a whisper as she padded to Cain. She laid her hand on his shoulder gently. "We need to get her down." Cain shuddered under her touch. He had crumpled to the ground in his initial shock and grief, yet his head was still angled to view his sibling's body. He shook his head.

"Cain," Hari shook him slightly. "We need to move her from there."

"I'll go and get my stepladders," Li-Anne told them grimly, before darting away back to Junky.

Samuel leant close to Cain's ear, and Hari believed him to be murmuring reassurances to the latter. She caught the occasional word, such as 'monster' and many apologies. She moved to comfort Hideki, but something stilled her hand from reaching out to him.

Hari knew how much he had loved caring for Charity. It had reconnected a part of Hideki's self that was long forgotten in the wake of losing his sibling bond with Jun. He had recounted how he had told Rhiannon he had nothing more to lose, or fears that she could exploit. Losing his family structure on Isola Giungla had been Hideki's breaking point. The repairable relationship Hideki and Jun shared now tattered beyond restoration.

So, Hari stood, head bowed in sorrow, dependently waiting on Li-Anne to return so that she could something- anything to keep her occupied and away from thoughts of loss and fire, even if meant tending to Charity's broken body.

Samuel's calming words had little effect on Cain. He swung out a disorientated, failing fist and clipped the other man square on his jaw.

"Don't you dare speak of what may have done this when you very well know it was you who killed my sister," Cain snarled, spittle dripping from his lips as he turned a venomous glare on Samuel. Hari felt her breath catch.

"I-I can assure you that I only had your best intentions at heart-"

"Best intentions? Killing my remaining family is what you call my best intentions-"

"It was the only way I could stop you from leaving-"

Hari jerked out of her shock at that; "Whoa, hold on. You said there was a creature in the Level that was destroying stuff, but it's actually you?"

Samuel's face twisted cruelly; "Do keep up, Pirate Captain. For someone of your status, you're rather slow. The tall one was on to me as soon as we met."

Hari glanced pensively to Hideki, but the tall teen's attention was latched onto Samuel and Cain. Li-Anne came rattling along with her stepladders in tow, but halted uneasily when she took in the scene. Samuel rubbed his jaw where Cain had punched him, pacing back and forwards under their scrutiny.

"You were going to leave and rescue her, and then live out your happy little lives," he mocked, sneering at Cain. "Disgusting. Then the ungrateful brat selfishly went and enlisted their help and made it this far. You all should have died in Level Seven, but here you are. My powers must be waning."

All of the pieces clicked into place for Hari; "You're the ruler of Shi's Kingdom, aren't you?"

"That's not all," Li-Anne added, watching the light catch multiple streaks of silver in Samuel's tawny hair. "You're the son of Dis and Gin too."

"Oh yes, my darling mother. Has she died yet?" Samuel asked with waning interest.

"No," Li-Anne bit out. Her experience with Dis had not been a shining example, but for the Guardian of Level Five to trap Gin of the Silver Pirates into marriage she had to be an incredibly strong willed woman.

Though it pained her to admit it, Li-Anne sort of respected the woman.

Samuel's lips pursed together. "Pity. I could have taken her throne as well as the two I already own."

Hari had many burgeoning questions forming on the tip of her tongue that she wished to ask, the majority ranged at more incredulous and stupidly repetitive than stimulating to the conversation.

She stuttered over her words, and eventually decided that perhaps this time it was better to keep her mouth shut and let Samuel monologue for now.

"Before you ask, Captain Slow, I am indeed the ruler of Shi's Kingdom. I am the Guardian of Level Nine, and the heir to Level Five should I desire it. And I killed that child, and I am cruel and selfish and you will not leave because I do not desire you to."

"…How…?" Hideki ground out.

"What was that?" Samuel's eyes narrowed. "How did I become the ruler of this Kingdom? Quite simple. I'm much like you; eating the cursed fruit leads to some interesting amendments to one's self, don't you think?"

"…How did you-"

"That very tree was the one to offer me the fruit. I was young, and tired and hungry, and I wished to final leave this dreaded place forever. But with one bite I was confined to the very place I hated the most," Samuel shrugged. "I couldn't move, all because of a tiny bite of fruit I ingested- and I took my anger out on that poor tree, as you may have noticed."

Samuel crouched down in front of Hideki, "Our gifts are both a blessing and a curse; I found myself on the receiving end of a blessing, my powers enabling me to influence anything within reasonable distance to do whatever I wish. I know who approaches this Kingdom. I choose who I want to Guard my Levels, where travellers are disposed of, where they escape and where they choose to settle. I am all powerful, I know all, see all, and most importantly I control all."

"…How did you-"

"Oh, speak up you giant oaf," Samuel groaned. "What is it that you so desperately wish to ask me?"

Hideki grit his teeth together, his body shaking with rage. "How. Did. You. **Kill**. Her."

"Which one?" Samuel announced with a taut smile. "Do you mean the little one I impaled over there? She was fun. She only wanted her big brother, and I told her she could get him if she followed me just once. It was so, so easy. Child's play, you might say."

Li-Anne and Hari grabbed hold of Cain before he could lunge, fists flailing at Samuel again. The aforementioned paid them no mind, continuing to torment Hideki.

"She was so willing to trust people, especially after she opened up to you three. She liked you a lot, plant boy, and I really should thank you for that. It made it easier for me to manipulate her into doing what I wanted."

"…How…" Hideki asked again, with a deep sob.

"I told her keep quiet, don't wake your brother. If she could sneak out after me then we could go and climb the tree together; it would be fun. She slipped, I-I swear-"

"I wouldn't trust a word that fell out of your mouth now," Cain thrashed against Hari and Li-Anne's hold."

"She didn't suffer! I swear that she didn't suffer. She fell onto one of the sharp bits of the tree, and I told her shhhh, don't wake your brother Charity! But she wouldn't keep quiet and I snapped her neck because you were going to leave- and no one leaves Shi's Kingdom anymore."

"You _snapped_ my sisters' neck," Cain said lowly, "And you want me to believe _she didn't suffer?!"_

Hideki's soft crying had escalated to a loud, piercing keen. Samuel rose from his crouch with a disgusted curl of his lip. He lashed out, catching the tall teen in the ribs with his foot. "Do shut up, your wailing is ringing in my ears."

But Hideki wouldn't be silenced. His cries grew louder, less unrestrained, and downright beastly. The last time Hari and Li-Anne had seen him act like that was when Taichi had taken to destroying the allotment garden Hideki had worked so hard upon, but even that wasn't level to this magnitude of Hideki losing his control.

No vines protruded from his back this time around, only his shrieks of grief hit them this time. He punched the ground and gnashed his teeth while consumed by his emotions. One hand dug deep into the ground so far that Hari feared they'd lost him to the tree's roots. Hideki screamed until he was blue in the face. The other two pirates slackened their hold on Cain, unsure as to whether they should be ducking for cover or snapping their crew mate out of his fit.

Samuel snapped his foot out again, catching Hideki on the temple. Hideki sprawled on his back into the grass, his fingers numbly tracing over the bump forming from where Samuel had kicked him.

"I told you to shut up," he growled, grinding his heel into Hideki's collar bone with force.

It was the sound of splintering wood that alerted Hari and Li-Anne that Hideki's placid temper had been pushed far beyond its limits. Hideki's skin looked as though it was once a piece of fine pottery; now it was cracked beyond recognition, bark spouting from every crevice like scales. Finally covering his human skin, Hideki embraced the epidermis of the trees- stretching, cracking, creaking, towering far above them all proudly. His teeth morphed into those similar to the ones carved into the tree Charity was still impaled upon, his eyes narrowed slits from which an eerie green glow emancipated. Branches towered upwards like antlers, leaves, fleshy vines and weeping willow strands weaving about them as a mockery of Hideki's tangled mane of hair.

"What are you doing?" Samuel panicked, backing away from the monstrosity he had forced Hideki to become. "I command you to turn yourself back. Stay away-"

Hideki roared.

The sound was deafening, and the two pirates and Cain dropped to the floor clutching their ears in fright. Hideki stomped forwards; his transformed, tromping feet fashioned of thick sturdy roots triggered the grassland to roil beneath them all.

"Stay back!" Samuel commanded once more, though it lacked authority. His nerve and poise were weakening.

Hideki screeched. The inhuman sound was not fit for any ear to hear.

Then, ever so slowly- as though mocking the tyrannical monarch of Shi's Kingdom, Hideki lifted one of his giant feet. It hovered over Samuel for mere moments, providing the former with a sense of hope as he desperately tried to dive out of range.

The foot smashed down upon him, and Samuel became a bloodied smear in the swaying grass.

Hari gagged at the sight, but struggled to her feet to try and calm Hideki.

"I've never seen him like this before," she stuttered, watching the transformed Hideki bring his foot down on the smeared patch again and again. Adjacent to where they had left Junky, an archway formed. This would be the final Gateway they would cross in Shi's Kingdom.

"How do we get him to stop?" She asked feebly, feeling terrified tears prick at her eyes.

The behemoth that Hideki had transformed into keened gently and crouched down to the earth; it's tapering eyes surveyed the carnage wreaked, before the glow that radiated from them weakened. It began to shrink, the bark receding once more under human flesh.

Hideki knelt by Samuel's remains, sobbing hysterically. His hands raked through some of the gore, slipping though the spattered crimson liquid like a hot knife through butter. Hideki caked his hands within the substance, and stared at them catatonically.

Tears still tracked down his face.

He whimpered, and neither Hari nor Li-Anne were sure how to help him.

* * *

They buried Charity far away from the three that had signalled her doom. Hideki grew a blooming fruit tree at the head of her grave, masses of low-maintenance wild flowers popping up in the grassland as he fed more power into his abilities than he should have.

He was yet to talk to them about what he had done.

Cain smeared dirt over the bloodied patch where Samuel had once stood, healthy, whole, and forbidding. No words were exchanged as they lowered Charity's small body into the ground. The pain of losing her, and of witnessing such bursts of brutality within a short period had stunned them all to silence. No words were needing, nor were they wanted.

Two trees now stood in the meadow. One devoid of life, the other bursting of it. Already ripened fruit could be plucked from the sentinel of Charity's grave.

Cain choked. Turning his back on the others while they stood by the graveside, he strode off into the distance, collapsing in a heap by a patch of poppies. They could hear his cries, they sounded amongst the swaying grass. The poppies were a stark red reminder of his loss.

Later, when readying the ship for their departure, Hari discovered a rolled-up scroll of baking parchment that had been left on the kitchen table. She deliberated for a second, before scrambling off the ship and racing through the grass to try and find Cain before Li-Anne grew impatient and sailed off without her.

Cain was stooped over the campsite he and Samuel had shared together. Hari approached nervously, extending the rolled-up drawings to him.

"She made these for you in the last Level we were in," Hari told him, shifting from one foot to the other when Cain stared at her blankly. Cain wiped his nose on the cuff of his sleeve before unrolling the oddly sized piece of paper. "She wanted to go on lots of adventures, see? I do believe there's one of you riding Sea Kings. The one I liked the most though was the one she drew of you both in a garden."

"Couldn't get her paper often enough in the Borderlands," Cain sniffled. "She liked flowers."

"I guess there weren't many there for her to see in that place."

Cain's fingers clenched, but he made sure not to crumple the priceless drawing. "I wanted to take her away from here, find her a house with a garden she could play in. I'd be able to take care of her properly then, because I couldn't leave her if we were safe together someplace else."

Hari swallowed. While she didn't find it all that appropriate to ask, a small part of her knew she couldn't willingly leave him to his grief. She decided to utter the words anyway.

"You could come with us, share in an adventure- live how she'd wanted you both too, y'know?"

"If you believe that for one second I'm going to leave her side ag-" Cain's heartbroken expression turned glacial, "I think it's time you left."

* * *

Hours later, a restless Hari paced about in her room.

They had sailed not long after her final discussion with Cain, and they had not looked back. Marvin was struggling under a constant barrage of calls; none of which were answered.

Li-Anne took a bottle of gin she'd stashed away in Junky's hold up on deck with her as she followed the Logue Poses' finally settled directions. Hideki had barricaded himself in his room, and had refused to surface. They left food outside of his door with hope that he would at least take care of himself. It remained untouched, even hours later.

Hari turned on her heel. Her eyes caught the stick figure scribbles Charity had left on the wall. Her lips tugged into a grin of their own accord, and her fingers itched for her to do something; anything that she could commemorate that little girl with.

She ended up raiding Li-Anne's ship supplies, snaffling up a ratty paintbrush, a hammer, four rusted nails, and a clear coat paint used to preserve the wood Junky was constructed out of. Hari painted a fairly accurate square around the drawing to preserve it, wafting it dry impatiently with her hands.

When she could see that the coating wouldn't run down the wall, she then took a wire coat hanger from her closet. Unravelling one of the balls of yarn in her hip pouch, she wound it around the wire hanger that she had twisted out of shape to make a frame. A substantial portion of the wool wound itself about this frame, and she left enough of the skein to loop smaller pieces in tight knots over the longer wound section. A few snips of her sharp dressmaking shears later, and Hari had several unshaped pom-poms.

She repeated this with two more smaller skeins of wool, before starting to shape them into compact little balls.

Taking a darning needle from her extensive hip pouch, Hari looped a long piece of wool through the needle's eye. She then strung every pom-pom she had made upon it.

When she was finished, she had a garland of multi-coloured pom-poms. Hari took the hammer she had filched, and on the roughed-out corner of the painted clear coat she had made, tapped each rusty nail in. She took the garland and hung it over each protruding nail.

Pleased with her work, Hari tidied up after herself and settled down into her bed for the night with one less thing weighing upon her mind and shoulders.

She had promised Charity that she would find a way to keep them forever, and that she would frame them, after all.

* * *

 _"Through me you pass into the city of woe:_

 _Through me you pass into eternal pain:_

 _Through me among the people lost for aye._

 _Justice the founder of my fabric moved:_

 _To rear me was the task of power divine,_

 _Supremest wisdom, and primeval love._

 _Before me things create were none, save things_

 _Eternal, and eternal I shall endure._

 _All hope abandon, ye who enter here."_

 _― 'The Divine Comedy', Dante Alighieri_

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!" – Arc Three [END]**

* * *

 **Author's Trivia:**

1\. This took me so long to write. I'd finished Arc Two by late October of 2016 before it was sent for Beta-ing, and then this Arc just reared its ugly head. I knew during my planning stage that this was going to be the worst one of all four Arcs- mainly just because of the sheer size of Episodes 8 and 9, but mostly because of all the things I had to keep track of. I think because of that, and because of multiple other real life factors (health, work, studying), that I put it off for so long. When I came back to write over my major time-off period (like Christmas, Easter and Summer Holidays) I just was not motivated at all. Sorry about that… My wonderful Beta, Everlasting Procrastinator, and myself too, have had a rough couple of months. So, we took our time with these chapters and worked on them when we both could and felt up to it.

2\. Mia, now confident to go outside on Little Kitty Adventures™, managed to get herself stuck on the roof shortly after I opened the window by my desk. I now write with my window locked or the blinds down, even though it's been really hot over the summer and the fresh air is appreciated by my struggling imagination. I've also been the recipient of a set of muddy paw prints tracked all over my (white) desk and (white) laptop. She seems to wait until I've finally got everything clean too before she does it again. As of June 2017, she's two years old! Mia's now a humongous cat rather than the scrawny kitten we adopted, and she loves to hunt. My favourite present so far has to be the live cricket she brought into the house and set loose…

3\. Cain and Charity were based off of an ongoing English TV Soap called Emmerdale, with Cain as an unbelievable softy under the hard-arse exterior and Charity, despite her name, being incredibly selfish.

4\. I took a lot of inspiration for the Levels from Dante's Divine Comedy- and the specific aspects of each level are embodied by those who inhabit it somewhat mimic the aforementioned. Arc Three is my way of really explaining what the backstories of Hari (to a lesser degree) and Li-Anne are, as while they've been touched up they've never been covered in depth like Hideki's.

5\. I've said it before and I'll say it again, please make #IshiSaysRelax be a thing!

6\. Lolita was originally going to be a lot more sexualised- Level Two is based around Lust after all. However, I didn't feel comfortable with it. For me to present her in such a way went against the image of her I had in my head, and it would transform her to be more like Oda-Sensei's Perona- still a child in behaviour sometimes, but physically near fully grown. Lolita wasn't intended to be like Perona though, so she essentially became a nymphet. And yes, before you ask, I have read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and yes, I'm still somewhat mentally scarred by the experience.

7\. My much-treasured Beta Everlasting Procrastinator told me they ship both Hari and Hideki and Hari and Ishi. Shipping names from fans are welcomed and appreciated- so please leave them for me to find in the review section, or drop me a PM if you have a suggestion~!

8\. I've cried several times when writing this, mainly because it took so much out of me, and partly because I'm ashamed with how twisted my imagination has become. You can track where things went downhill for me through the musical inspiration list below. I usually change music when I move onto a different section of the Arc, and you can spot the devolution of my mood by how it changes from lyric-based, upbeat songs to heavy-hitting orchestral scores and some, quite frankly, saddening music. The Everybody's Gone To The Rapture score brings me to tears and goose bumps every time I listen to it, and I strongly advise giving the full soundtrack a listen. It's truly beautiful.

9\. In my head, Thrandin is definitely similar to the Lord of the Rings film's Haldir (Eru rest his filmic soul *sobs*). I nearly had him join the crew, but changed my mind last minute.

10\. I caved in and bought a Nintendo Switch, along with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I can honestly say that I'm still loving every moment of exploration! I ended up beating Ganon completely by accident. Unintentionally walked into his boss room, one thing led to another, and Hyrule was inadvertently taken back…

* * *

 _ **Did you get all the references?**_

Level 1: Sparrow = High Sparrow from Game of Thrones

Level 2: Greek Mythology; Asterion, named for Asterion II, that is believed to be a minotaur. Lolita's doll like appearance is reminiscent of Japanese Lolita fashion and Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, for her nymph-like appearance

Level Three: Game of Thrones and the title of Lord of the Flies as part of a Monarchic role

Level Four: Mammon = a mixture of Gollum and Kreacher the House Elf, and the rolling ball of junk he creates is inspired by the game Katamari Damacy

Level Five: The Hobbit/LotR Elves, and Dis, Daughter of Thrain (Thorin Oakenshield's sister)

Level Six: Leviathan Sea creature

Level Seven, Level Eight, Level Nine: Vague flashes of Montagues and Capulets, instead this time it's three families waging war on one another… In Level's Eight and Nine, references were more stylistic than obvious within the text, but I can say that Rhiannon resembled a less showy, more manipulative Sister Friede from the Dark Souls III DLC 'Ashes of Ariandel', and Samuel is a humanoid form of the Devil

* * *

 **Pom-Pom Pom! Arc Three – Musical inspiration:**

* * *

"Wild Forever" – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 'Familia'

"In Paradisum (Requiem Op.48; 1893 version, ed. John Rutter)" – Gabriel Fauré, 'Classical Chillout'

"She Blinded Me With Science" – Thomas Dolby, 'The Golden Age of Wireless'

"Bedroom Warfare" – ONE OK ROCK, 'Ambitions'

"Plug In Baby" – MUSE, 'Origin of Symmetry'

"You're in Love with a Psycho" – Kasabian, 'You're in Love with a Psycho'

"Welcome to the Pleasuredome" – Frankie Goes To Hollywood, 'Welcome to the Pleasuredome'

"Saturnz Barz" – Gorillaz ft. Popcaan, 'Saturn Barz feat. Popcaan'

"Hyrule Castle (Interior)" - Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, and Hajime Wakai, 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack'

"Brennisteinn" – Sigor Rós, 'Kveikur'

"The Pieces Are Moving" - Johannes Bornlöf

"Molduga Battle" - Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, and Hajime Wakai, 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Original Soundtrack'

"Gerhman, The First Hunter" - Ryan Amon, Tsukasa Saitoh, Michael Wandmacher, Yuka Kitamura, Cris Velasco, and Nobuyoshi Suzuki, 'Bloodborne Original Soundtrack'

"Main Theme" - Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, and Hajime Wakai, 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'

"On Love: Agape" – Taro Umebyashi, 'Yuri! On ICE'

"Soul of Cinder" – Yuka Kitamura, 'Dark Souls III Original Soundtrack'

"Light of the Seven" – Ramin Djawadi, 'Game of Thrones – Series Six Original Soundtrack'

"The Light We Cast" – Jessica Curry, 'Everybody's Gone To The Rapture'

* * *

 **Character Profiles:**

 **(In order of appearance…)**

* * *

 **Hari**

Age 19, daughter of Argyle. Now the Captain of Junky, Li-Anne's Junk ship, though remains an extremely good seamstress and tailor.

 **Pat**

Age unknown, manager of the new Doskoi Panda store in Logue Town. Suspected Arsonist.

 **Argyle**

Hari's father and the establisher of Argyle's Boutique and Haberdashery. Deceased three years before the start of 'Pom-Pom Pom!'

 **Li-Anne**

Age 32, background currently unknown. Navigator, Mechanic and Chef of Junky.

 **Chieftain Coquelicot**

Middle aged, Chieftain of Pastello Island. 'Coquelicot ' is a shade of red, and originally the vernacular French name for wild red corn poppies. Say it with me now: "Coke-lee-ko'.

 **Carnation 'Cana'**

Age 16, daughter of Coquelicot and Darling. Supposedly in love with Lucien. From the top of my memory, most associations with 'Carnation' in flower language is good; usually dealing with affection, love, and luck.

 **Miriam**

Age unknown, runs a bar on Pastello Island. Was the one to invent a self- temperature-regulating tray for drinks.

 **Lucien**

Age 26, Marine Commodore Lucien stationed at the entrance of Grand Line. Does some shady stuff in the name of Justice. His other titles include 'Skirt chaser' and he may or may not have a thing for Doskoi Panda clothing which spangles.

 **Darling**

Middle aged, wife of Coquelicot and mother of Carnation. Darling is the chief weaponry inventor, and created most of Pastello Islands defence mechanisms.

 ** **Hideki Inoue****

Age 17, wielder of the Ki Ki no Mi (Model: Paramecia) and native of Isola Giungla, Grand Line. Eldest son of Taichi and Elena Inoue, older brother of Jun and the third member of the Pom-Pom Pirates.

 ** **Taichi Inoue****

Middle aged. Runs a successful Den-Den Mushi company and has trade links on Grand Line and in the four Blues. Husband of Elena and father of Hideki and Jun.

 ** **Elena Inoue****

Middle aged. Wife of Taichi and mother to Hideki and Jun. Is tired of being chained to the house and in desperate need of a new apron. Fiercely protective of Hideki. Lover of blue roses.

 ** **Jun Inoue****

In his mid-teens. Eats a lot (blame hormones), and is set to inherit his father's company.

 ** **Marvin****

One hell of a rookie Den-Den Mushi. Sports a candy-coloured, rainbow striped shell.

 ** **Killer****

'Massacre Soldier' Killer, of the Kidd Pirates. Needs the buttons sewing back onto his shirt, but missed a prime opportunity in Episode 5…

 ** **Kidd****

'Captain' Eustass Kidd, Captain of the Kidd Pirates. Possible/Highly potential Megalomaniac?

 ** **Marine Lieutenant Hara****

He's inept and unassuming in most way. But he tries his best, bless him.

 ** **Marine Captain Ishi****

The man is beautiful, powerful, and a Marine. In his early to mid-twenties and already and rising star in the Marine ranks. Wielder of the Oni Oni no Mi (Model: Paramecia)

 ** **Dave, Frank and Harold****

Subordinates of Marine Captain Ishi, and are, respectively, awesome, not so awesome, and quite possibly now traumatised for life.

 **Sparrow**

One of the leaders in the Borderlands.

 **Lolita**

The Guardian Princess of Level Two.

 **Asterion**

Lolita's guard and beloved. May have Minotaur-ish ancestors.

 **Charity**

The Pom-Pom Pirates' first stowaway. Searching for her brother, Cain.

 **Bugsy**

A strange, bug costume wearing individual that aids the Pirates.

 **Joffrey, Lord of the Flies**

The hormonal teenage ruler of Level Three that can't stop eating.

 **Beelinda**

Attendant of Joffrey.

 **Mammon**

Guardian of Level Four and Doskoi Panda lover.

 **Thrandin**

Captain of the Guard for Lady Dis. Mortified by the sight of peach lace bras.

 **Dis**

Guardian of Level Five.

 **Leviathan**

Shark Fishman who swam his was mistakenly into the levels.

 **Lucretia**

Resident of Level Seven. Married to Antonio and mother of Dora.

 **Antonio**

Husband to Lucretia, father to Dora. Head of the House of Ss .

 **Ludovico**

Once married to 'Violetta' who left with their baby son; discovered that he is the father of Lucien. Head of the House of Rr.

 **Tiberius**

Helped Violetta to escape. Father to Xander, and Head of House Sh.

 **Dora**

Daughter of Antonio and Lucretia. Love interest of Xander.

 **Xander**

Son of Tiberius. Love interest of Dora.

 **Rhiannon, the Weaver of Pipe Dreams**

Guardian of Level Eight. Very desperate.

 **Gin**

A Pirate Li-Anne once knew and loved who betrayed her. Captain of the Silver's Pirates. Streak of silver in his hair. Later revealed to be the husband of Dis and father of Samuel, and the one who betrayed both Dis and Thrandin with his paramour.

 **Cain**

Mid to late teens, brother of Charity.

 **Samuel**

Heir to the throne of Level Five, and ruler of Level Nine and the entirety of Shi's Kingdom. Dis and Gin's mysterious son. Wields an unknown Akuma no Mi that can influence the actions of people in a certain radios. Murderer. Murdered.

* * *

 ** _And now, a few comments from my wonderful Beta that I found in the edited document of this Episode..._**

* * *

 **Level Six**

* * *

Leviathan: AARGH  
Hari: throws the ball of yarn  
yarn: bump  
Leviathen:….?

Hari: Is running from a giant fishman who wants to kill them  
Hari:wow it's brunchtime.

* * *

 **Level Seven**

* * *

oh no it's the Dosoki Panda gollum come back to haunt us.

Level I can't remember: the soap opera.

Oh he's **[Ludovico]** the one checking out Hari earlier I guess cradlerobbing runs in the family

* * *

 **Level Eight**

* * *

what is with Shi's Kingdom and killing/trapping to keep them safe like can you guys think of nooooo other way to do so, like idk, not murder?

* * *

 **Ten Minutes Later, After Level Nine**

* * *

hi quick question what the f*ck. why would you hurt me in this way  
DON'T YOU THINK THAT WAS A LITTLE EXCESSIVE  
MAYBE  
A LITTLE


	10. Episode 9 (and a half) - OMAKE

**DISCLAIMER** : All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.

* * *

 **Here we go, the first Omake for Pom-Pom Pom! This has been proofread by me, so please notify me if there are any mistakes. I decided against sending this off for Beta-ing because I wanted it to be a complete and total surprise to everyone- including my wonderful Beta** _EverlastingProcrastinator_ **. Seriously, they've put up with so much from this last Arc. They deserve a break!**

 **Speaking of breaks, this is going to be another busy year for me. While I'm setting aside more free time for myself and personal projects, I can't give a definite date for when Arc Four will be here. Still, I hope you enjoy this Omake, and thank you for reading.**

 **Tell me what you thought of this in a review or PM. I'd love to hear from you~!**

* * *

 **"Pom-Pom Pom!"**

* * *

 **Arc Four:** 'Paradise, well and truly lost.'

 _Episode 9 ½ . Hari's Tapestry! An Unanticipated Reunion!_

* * *

"I've just realised that we've not been documenting all of this," Hari said in horror, reviewing the memories (both good and bad) or recent months in her mind.

"What do you mean 'documentin''," Li-Anne asked sceptically.

"Exactly what I mean! We've not been writing anything down," Hari returned animatedly. She'd acquired those revelation over lunch, as they sat under the blistering sunshine on deck with plates stacked high with sandwiches.

Hideki placed his plate gently on the wooden deck. He had finally opened up to them after many weeks of mourning. It came to a point where Li-Anne and Hari unscrewed the hinges on his doorframe, pushed the door in on itself, and forced themselves into his room. Countless days of fasting had forced him into accepting the food they left outside of his door, yet they never caught him quick enough to slip inside and force him into the outside world. They had now reached him stringing together sentences, eating, washing and generally taking good care of himself. But Hideki still felt Charity's loss, and overwhelming guilt over what he had done to Samuel in his rage. Hari and Li-Anne feared it was something he would never truly forgive himself for.

"... I don't write well..." He told them softly.

"Neither do I," Li-Anne admitted.

Hari folded her hands beneath her chin, her eyes closing in deep thought while she ruminated on what to do next.

"You said there was an island coming up soon," she stated, her eyes popping open to glance at Li-Anne.

Li-Anne nod her head in affirmation, watching the Log Pose strapped to her wrist wiggle slightly in response as the needle constantly recalibrated their position, and the instructions the Navigator would eventually follow. They were stationary for the moment, the anchor dropped while they settled in for the night. Hideki would take first watch, as he usually did these days after they had left Shi's Kingdom. Li-Anne and Hari acquiesced after he first offered to take that shift, but made sure to always set multiple alarms in their rooms to wake them when it was time for them to take over if the assigned watchman for the night wasn't due to take on a full night's watch. The previous system that was practiced was that the last watchmen woke the next. Hideki had been skipping out on doing so, continuing through two other shifts. When they set numerous alarm clocks next to one another, he crept into their rooms to disable them. They made sure to hide the extra ones now.

Why Li-Anne had so many alarm clocks on her ship in the first place, Hari didn't know. But it was at times like these that she was glad for random happenstances.

Li-Anne made an exclamatory hum while she drank the dregs of her night time cup of cocoa. "I'm glad for it. We're in dire need of supplies."

Hari chuffed, her hands slipping through her hair distractedly.

"I suppose I could always made a tapestry," Hari resolved. "If I can pick up some heavy-duty fabric it'll last longer than paper if it gets wet or the worst happens to us."

Hideki flinched. Hari nearly smacked herself.

"How long will it be before we reach this new island?" She pestered Li-Anne, her eyes flicking from the elder woman to Hideki as the tall teen rose from where he had been seated and sloped off for his watch shift.

Li-Anne yawned, "Day n' a half, I 'spose, if we don't use the motor. Just under a day if we do."

"Excellent."

* * *

They powered through the choppy waters with Junky's motor roaring, making quick work of Li-Anne estimation of when they would find the next island. The new island the Log Pose led them to was, like all isles in the Grand Line, certainly _unique_.

The entire place consisted of cubic, cuboid, and generically boxy architecture. The houses were fashioned of a reflective silver cladding, with precise, concrete steps leading up to the door. The lawns were manicured to an almost artificial standard; the green blades of grass trimmed to be identical to all others around it. The trees and shrubbery were pruned into cubes with clean, sharp edges, and any flowers- while not square and incongruent with the world around them, were planted in controlling, nondescript stone-grey plant pots and trussed to trellises and growth aids inside them (which were, coincidentally, oblong in shape).

"You don't suppose the people are robots too, huh?" Li-Anne gesticulated to the oddity of the town. "Or maybe they're built all blocky?"

"Or _maybe_ ," Hari interjected, spying movement on the horizon, "They're just very particular and house proud people?"

Hideki had control of the kiddy binoculars for now; his rubber ring firmly pulled up to his waist. He handed the binoculars to Li-Anne when she asked for them, and she soon focused them on whatever Hari had spotted.

" _Maybe_ ," Li-Anne returned sarcastically, twiddling the magnification up a tad and hoping her eyesight was failing her, "They're in league with the Marines."

"Preposter-"

"Your mate's over there Hari! The one that nearly captured us all on Nevis. I think it's far more likely we've ended up at an island that doesn't like pirates," Li-Anne said agitatedly, relaxing as she watched Marine Captain Ishi stomp out of view. She groaned; "We really needed those supplies too…"

Hari looked at her funny, "Who says we're going to be the one's leaving?"

"If we stay here we'll be the one's leavin' in chains, ya' idiot!" Hari stomped into the cabin, ignoring Li-Anne's squawking. "Where are you goin' now?!"

"To get a white flag!"

* * *

Hari's white flag (intended as a sign of peace to any Marines they may encounter), consisted of one knitting needle sized just right for weaving with super chunky type wool and a white vest of Hideki's, of which she tied the baggy straps to the needle and wafted about in a poor mockery of a flag.

Li-Anne looked at Hideki dolefully as Hari strode before them both, waving the flag like a mad woman. He shrugged in return.

"Hari, listen, that twiddy lil' thing ain't gonna stop them from shootin' us in the head- they'll just do it anyway," Li-Anne sighed.

Hari huffed, "And how would you know this, Li-Anne?"

"Because Marines come in three brands; hopeless, sadistic, and highly competent. All of which, strangely, _happen to carry guns they will shoot at us!"_

Hideki, the only one taking notice of their surroundings at that moment, rushed to grip Li-Anne and Hari's shoulders. He tugged them backwards, noticing a familiar figure round the bend in front of them.

" _Ah-!"_ Lieutenant Hara squeaked as a soft lasso of willow wrapped itself around him and dragged him some ways away from where he had been harmlessly stood.

"…Shhh…" Hideki ordered the poor Marine, placing his index finger over Hara's mouth to solidify his command. Hara whimpered.

Hari beamed at the bound Marine, wafting her flag so that he could see it.

"We come in peace," she said, smugly grinning at Li-Anne.

* * *

"S-Sir," Lietenant Hara sniffled down his portable Den-Den Mushi to the receiving line. "I'm in… I'm in a bit of a s-situation…"

The long-suffering expression the Hara's Den-Den Mushi wore as it conveyed Captain Ishi's response deepened; _"Hara, you suggested we stop here for longer so that I could re…rela… urgh, 'relax'. You got us into this, so you can be the one to sort your mess out should you end up in one."_

"But Sir-"

" _That is_ final _, Lieutenant Hara. Look, the men and I are at this place's equivalent of a tavern. Finish up whatever you're doing and join us then."_

The line disconnected with a click, and Lieutenant Hara felt his stomach drop. Could he handle a fight against three experienced pirates- whom had previously decimated their men back at Nevis Island.

"Listen, Lieutenant Hara- was it?" The Captain of the Pom-Pom Pirates asked him, her voice far too gentle for a blood-thirsty, pillaging criminal. Hara bobbed his head up and down fervently. He'd found that with this crew that looks could be deceiving- best he not chance his luck, honestly, against the three of them together. "We don't mean any harm. We've just gone through an awful lot recently- something that no one should ever have to go through. All we want is a rest, to restock our supplies, and then we'll be out of your hair. I like your hair tie by the way!"

She grinned him, motioning to the fine sea foam green ribbon that kept his hair back from his face. Elena the cook had found it for him in her things when his last tie had snapped, and she took great pains to comb back his hair and tie it for him every morning. He liked Elena. He knew she had lost a lot, and that she missed her sons desperately. If it made her happy to help him, Captain Ishi, and the other men on the crew, then Hara certainly wasn't going to stop her.

Hari smiled dazzlingly at him, and Hara felt himself give.

"Fine, but first you'll report with me to Captain Ishi," he informed them.

"Suits me jus' fine," Li-Anne cackled. "We've just been through some stuff you'd call Sea King shit on, and I, for one, deserve a drink."

* * *

The collective group of Marines already sat in the tavern scrambled for their weapons as Lieutenant Hara led three pirates inside. Hari toted her white flag, and pouted when they didn't stand down immediately.

"Hara…" Marine Captain Ishi growled, rising from his seat at the bar. He had immediately recognised Hara's tag alongs and was part way through a Devil Fruit transformation when the Pirate Captain had the gall to _wave_ at them all in greeting.

"Hello again!" Saihō-shi Hari chirped. "Oh! Hello Elena!"

"Hari?" Their new cook yelped, nervously staring at her commanding officer from the corner of her eye as she strode near to the tavern's entrance. "Hideki!"

Elena lunged to embrace her eldest son, grasping him up into a deathly hug and sobbing into his stomach.

"… Hello, Mother…" Hideki patted the crying woman on the back, much to the incredulity of the Marines.

"So, Elena's your new cook, _huh_?" Hari questioned Ishi knowingly.

Ishi grit his teeth together. The pirate knew more about the inner workings of his own crew than he did apparently. "She also happens to be the parent of one of your… comrades."

Hari brushed non-existent lint from her shoulder, flipping her hair back over her shoulders. "We prefer the term 'nakama' at the moment, but whatever floats your, erm, _warship?"_

"I see." He didn't. Not really. All he could think of was dangling from that vine-bridge the tall Akuma no Mi user had made and her grabbing hold of him. How she'd pulled him to safety only for him to drop back into the water, to his near death might he add, minutes later. Plus, he had perfect pirate-capturing leverage working for him right under his nose.

Lieutenant Hara sheepishly crept up to stand beside his officer, wringing his hands on the edge of his pristine uniform. "I sorted my own problem this time, Captain," he beamed, disturbingly pleased with himself for doing something right. "These pirates come in peace, and shall cause no harm under our jurisdiction."

"It's true," Li-Anne stepped forward, and grinned in satisfaction as half of the men sat in the tavern in Marine uniforms cringed back from the sight of her and the pink mallet strapped to her back. She waved to one, and watched as said Marine slumped over his pint of ale in a dead faint. "All we want to do is restock out supplies and move on."

It was true. Shi's Kingdom had taken its toll on their supplies, bodies and minds. While Hideki's mood had much improved the further they got away from the dreaded place, they still lacked their prior unity and tranquillity found on board the ship before they were sucked into nine levels of veritable torment.

"And how can I be so sure that you'll keep your word?" Ishi sneered. "We cannot trust pirates- if we could, we wouldn't be hunting you down daily. My better judgement is telling me I should incarcerate you all now while your bounties are still low enough."

Hari proudly lifted her chin higher, haughtily staring him down; "We have just spent the last couple of weeks in a place I can only describe as nightmarish, after being pulled into their not of our own jurisdiction, have emerged from it half-starved and grieving, and you _honestly think we're going to be insincere?!"_

She took a deep, ragged breath; her fingers curling into shaking fists. "Y'know what, I've had enough already. Li-Anne-"

"Yes, Captain?"

"Do what you have to do. Hideki, have a catch up with your mother. Fight your way back to the ship if you have to. We're restocking and then we're moving on, understood?"

"Certainly Captain," Li-Anne replied, an admiring glint in her eye she often gained when Hari took her role as a Pirate Captain seriously. Hideki simply nodded and guided his mother to one of the lesser crowded corners of the tavern.

Hari's hands shook with such force that it took her a while to unclench them. She whirled on her heels of her towering shoes, striding out of the dingy little pub as confidently as she could with the intermittent wobbled.

"Where are you-?" Ishi growled, shooting a look to Li-Anne who followed her Captain out of the door. "Hara, watch the tall one!"

"Aye Sir!"

* * *

 _"You will stop this instant-"_

"Or _what_?" Hari called over shoulder for the third and final time, stepping up the pace of her walk. She urged Li-Anne to go on without her, and the Navigator scooted off into the warren of perfectly identical houses in search of a general store or grocer.

 _Mayhaps they'll sell square food,_ Li-Anne thought dryly with a shake of her head.

"Explain yourself, Pirate," Ishi rumbled, glowering at Hari.

"I will on three conditions," she returned, turning her nose up at him when he growled in frustration; rubbing a hand through his shock of ashy grey hair. "It's that or no deal. I'm happy to keep walking."

Though he hated to feel indebted to a pirate, Marine Captain Ishi was far too curious for his own good this time. It was wrong of him to let his morals slip, he knew that. But Hara had brought him there to… dare he say it- _relax._ For now, he was Ishi. Not a Marine Captain, but just plain old Ishi, and the woman stood before him- her fists shaking with irritation even as her knees quaked with terror- was not an up and coming Pirate Captain, nor an instigator or rebellion. She was just Hari.

"Name your conditions," he ground out, ignoring the moral little voice in his head reprimanding him over how bad of an idea this was turning out to be.

Hari straightened immediately, flabbergasted that her nerve had paid off. She stuttered, "W-well, first of all, I need to get some sturdy fabric and a lot of new thread."

She counted it off on her fingers before moving on to the next condition on her agenda; "Secondly, I need to be able to tell you our story without unnecessary interruptions-" Ishi grumbled in protest, yet she chose to interrupt him, "- _Thirdly…_ We're going to relax. I need a break- _frick_ , we _all_ do. It's been a long couple of weeks..."

Smiling sadly at him, Hari extended out her palm. "Today we're just Hari and Ishi, and we're going to relax, yeah?"

Marine Captain Ishi stare at her slender hand (still shaking, though from anger or nerves he couldn't tell), then to her face. It betrayed no signs of malice; he could detect no nefarious deeds or underlying plots to usurp Justice.

He rolled his stiff shoulders, eying her hand again. Despite his better judgement warning him not to, Ishi shook it.

She began her tale after he had helped her locate a craft store; quietly and sweetly twisting a favour from the shop's owner and cutting out the components she needed from the fabric she had bought moments earlier with sharp and practiced precision, before wrapping them into a neat bundle. Hari moved methodically, tidying up her mess, gathering her things, and bowing to the owner in thanks before they left.

Ishi was more than bewildered in trying to process how handy she'd been with a tiny pain of fabric scissors; and having seen Hari's frightening practicality rise to the surface when she had been making fabric and cotton choices, he was glad these skills didn't naturally transpose into her life as a pirate.

He scoled himself there and then for thinking of the 'P' word. Today they were Hari and Ishi. Just Hari and Ishi. Not Pir-

 _Urgh._

Ishi scrubbed at his face with his palm. This was going to be more difficult than he anticipated.

They then moved to a manicured patch of landscaping the locals assured them was used only for exemplary picnics and gatherings, and that they were free to use it during their stay. They settled on the short spiky grass atop his Maine cloak he had removed prior; Ishi turned on his side with his elbow propping up his head as he watched how Hari knelt, expertly threading her needle and for the moment, holding it between her teeth with care. She then tacked each individual piece, which she had cut and shaped earlier in the craft store, to a long tab of thick cream fabric with multiple pins.

"I had an idea to make a tapestry," she told him. "Because apparently, no one really likes to write out of the three of us. I get bored and antsy really easily, so this will keep me going for a while."

"You started out a Logue Town then?" He questioned, staring at a patchwork of ashy and charcoal grey fabrics Hari assured him would be detailed into looking like the infamous stone streets of Logue Town.

"Yes," she replied, marking out a few satin stitches to form the raised texture of a tiny brick. This would be a delicate project; Hari would be conscious of every tiny, painstaking stitch she made. "Where was I up to though?"

She jabbed her needle into the area of the fabric she had previously been working on, smoothing out the long piece of cream fabric over the grass to trace the journey she had mapped out on it so far. "Oh yes, I'd started telling you about Shi's Kingdom."

"I have heard of it," Ishi murmured. Many Marine's patrolling that area of Grand Line was warned not to get within a certain radius of the place. Not after they lost a relatively small fleet to it. "Your ship was pulled in?"

Hari's hand crinkled over the applique work she had yet to sew down for the visualisation of Shi's Kingdom on her tapestry. She swallowed harshly, blinking back burgeoning tears. "We did. Not that we knew that at the time- just thought we'd been pulled into a rogue current or weather system. Li-Anne tried her best to steer us out of it; she used Junky's motor, but we just… We were pulled in."

"Is it true there's no way out?"

"Not unless you venture deeper inside."

* * *

Elena eyed her son from where he sat, adjacent to her. His eyes roamed the crowded tavern, flinching into himself whenever someone neared, only to catch himself doing so and shaking his head. Hideki had done this several times now.

Something was definitely wrong.

A mother never missed a trick.

"You eat well on that ship," she stated.

Hideki dipped his head. Li-Anne was rather handy with a frying pan when she wasn't trying to bash Hari over the head with it. She did the best with limited supplies, and concocted the most delicious dishes with perishables that needed to be eat up within the first few weeks.

"…I have a garden on the cabin roof," Hideki informed his mother.

"That's good to hear, Sweetpea. I was afraid that, well, after all that happened you would never take up the hobby again…" Elena grimaced, her sentence dwindling when she thought of Taichi and her little Jun.

Hideki's whole body seemed to stiffen. "… Sometimes I wish I hadn't…"

Elena felt more than a little anxious upon hearing this, and drew her small half-pint of ale to her mouth. She took a hasty sip before answering; "Why would you say that about yourself- you have a wonderful gift sweetheart!"

Through parted sections of his overly long fringe, Hideki's eyes shone out like dark, glistening gems. They shimmered with a lustre Elena could only ascertain with sadness, and not the joviality of a young teenager out and seeing the world for himself.

Elena dropped her glass when her eldest son next spoke. It shattered to the floor about her feet.

* * *

"My father owned a haberdashery in Logue Town, and he taught me his craft," Hari said, dipping her needle between layers of fabric and drawing up the cotton to make another neat stitch to hold said layers in place. "I met Li-Anne on the night it burnt down. I'd been out and came back to find it in ruin. The insurance policy had run out that day- at least, that's what I was told. I had enough time to go inside and recue the savings Dad had left me, but it was a wreck. I never found out how it all started, though. I mean, the electrics and plumbing were a little old, but I'd been assured it was safe enough for me to work in there. I guess I'll never know now too…"

She placed her needlework in her lap, toying with it and angling it around; her eyed determined which area she should build up her stitching on, and which places she should leave untouched.

"Li-Anne let me stay with her for a few days on Junky while I got things sorted, but it would have cost me everything to set up shop again after covering the repair bills," Hari shrugged.

"So you went in to piracy," Ishi frowned.

Hari giggled, "I laughed in Li-Anne's face when she first asked me, but now I couldn't quite imagine my life without her, Hideki and Junky in it. I miss the shop, but Argyle's was struggling for business. I would have had to have closed it down eventually."

Ishi straightened slightly, the name of the shop having caught his attention.

"'Argyle's'? The place where we had a Uniform tailoring contract set up at one time?" By 'we' Hari assumed he meant 'the Marines'. She hummed in acknowledgement. "I remember it- when I was still dong grunt work I accompanied my commanding officer there, say… three or so years back?"

"That would be around the time my father passed away," Hari affirmed sadly. "I had to cancel the contract because I just couldn't afford to keep things afloat, pay workers, or fulfil the order's just by working on them myself."

Feeling a little awkward, Ishi cleared his throat; "So why tell me about your family business again?"

"Because that's what Level Eight made me experience. Hideki was the only one, except for maybe Ch… He was the only one not affected by her illusions. He had to dump buckets of water on me to get me to stop screaming."

"About what?"

"Hmmm?"

"What were you screaming about?"

" _Oh_ , being burnt alive in the shop."

* * *

They had been talking for what seemed like and age. Li-Anne had waved to them on her walk back to Junky with the supplies, but made no attempt to join them in their conversation. As she span her tale of how Hideki had pulled them from Level Eight and the beginning of their stay in Level Nine, Hair had begun to make individual pom-pom. They would elder her tapestry when she was finished embroidering it; she would sew each fluffy sphere onto a piece of bias tape, before carefully folding the edging tape over the sides of her tapestry. It would keep the edges of her work clean from fraying, and would ultimately finish the piece. Except, Hari had been a little overzealous in her attempts, and now many pom-poms that would not be used littered the grass around them.

"You killed a man…" Elena whispered, dazed. How could her son- her gentle hearted, misunderstood, plant loving, mild-mannered giant of a son be capable of such a deed? "Why would you- how- Is it because of _them?_ "

Hideki knew from the venom in her tone that she believed Hari and Li-Anne to be responsible. Perhaps Taichi had been successful had been tainting his mother with his _opinions_ on Pirates after all. Hideki's lip curled in irritation.

"Okay, so not your Crewmates- but Sweetpea, you're the calmest person I know! You're not capable of something like… like _that_!"

"…I am a monster, mother…"

"Then I am the mother of a monster! Mariejois above, I _married_ a monster- does that make me one too?" Hideki shook his head. His mother had to be part saintly entity to be able to put up with Taichi Inoue for as long as she had. Raising two sons with little time between their births also tended to wear upon one's patience- but not Elena's. "Did you lose control again, like with your father before you left?"

Hideki swallowed harshly. Elena watched his Adam's apple bob almost painfully under his skin.

"…I killed a man who murdered-"

The tavern door swung open with a hefty kick, Li-Anne stepping through the exposed threshold with a hand lightly caressing the strap her mallet holster adjoined to.

"What's a gal' gotta do to get a decent drink around here?" The Navigator called to the barkeep.

"Please have some respect for the r-rest of the patrons!" Lieutenant Hara sputtered as Li-Anne plonked herself down next to him at the bar. The woman gave him a disparaging side-eyed glance, as though she couldn't decide whether it was worth her time answering back to his completely pathetic declaration, or whether to decide just for the hell of it.

Elena rose from her seat, skirting around the remains of her pint glass (which had yet to be cleared up from the floor).

"My son is not himself," she hissed into Li-Anne ear, nervously eying a shaking and dismayed Hara. Li-Anne had decided to ignore him after all. The poor Lieutenant looked fit to burst into tears.

The barkeep slid Li-Anne drink to her across the slicked wooden bar top. Li-Anne took a calm sip before answering. "Killing your first man tends to do that."

Hara nearly fell out of his seat, gripping the bar top in shock as the stool wobbled beneath him.

Elena tapped her foot. The floor was slightly sticky and ruined the irate mother-bear image she was trying to exert. "Then explain to me why it was necessary for him to kill a man in the first place!"

"Because said man _impaled_ a _child_ upon a tree," Li-Anne snarled, slamming down her glass with such force that most its contents splashed over the rim onto her hand. "A child, might I add, we had been protecting until we reunited her with her elder brother, and who Hideki had grown incredibly attached to!"

"Oh… Oh Hideki, Sweetpea. You poor soul," Elena breathed, her eyes darting to her son. Hideki rose from where he sat and walked out of the tavern.

* * *

Carefully packing away her work, Hari reclined on the grass beside Ishi. She folded her hands atop her stomach and sighed.

Closing her eyes, Hari said sombrely, "I'd never seen him so antagonised before. I knew that Ch-Charity meant a great deal to him, but he didn't even get so worked up over his own father disowning him."

Her hands shook. "The sound he made was inhuman, and, I don't know whether he'll honestly forgive himself for his actions."

"He lost control," Ishi grunted, one of his eyes opening slowly when Hari heaved a sigh again. "It's happened to the best and the worst of us afflicted with an Akuma no Mi. He won't be the last to do so."

"That poor girl was _impaled_ on part of a dead tree, I can't blame him for losing control over that, but- but he literally _stomped someone to death_. How do I even begin to politely ask him not to- to _do_ that ever again?! If not for our sake, but for his piece of mind- you didn't see how cut up he was before we got here," Hari rolled onto her side, her fingers worriedly clenching into the coat of Ishi's uniform spread beneath them both.

Ishi pondered on this. He too rolled on to his side, facing Hari. It was a heavy, sluggish movement; as though one was rolling a boulder through thick, unyielding mud. "If Elena's as good at sorting out our problems as she is consoling her son, I can guarantee that he'll be fine before he boards that ship of yours again. Perhaps even earlier than then."

His fingers found her own, clasped over the coat's lining as they were, and flattened out her tense hand with his. The air was still. Faint noise of island life washed through their ears, and the sun shone down heartily with a temperate warmth. "This is nice."

"Can you see why people like relaxing now, Ishi?" Hari asked cheekily.

Flustered, he removed his hand from atop hers and tightly brought it to rest by his side. Ishi shuffled back onto his back, his body somnambulant and unusually weightless as he watched the vividly blue sky above him. Compacted rectangular and square clouds would drift overhead, stretching out into bizarre, wispy tufts as soon as they cleared the vicinity of the island. Now fully immersed, Ishi could, in fact, see the benefits of r- _relaxing._

"Yes Hari, I can."

Before he knew it, he gently slid into slumber. Hari rose serenely from where she lay; a regular, shrunk sewing needle glinting in her palm. She began to collect the scattered pom-poms.

"Hiya Hideki!" Hari called quietly upon noticing her Crewmate's approach; her arms cradling far too many pom-poms. She cast a look down at a sleeping Ishi. A gentle snore crept from the Marine Captain. Hari bit her lip to contain her giggles. "Is it time to leave already?"

"…No…"

"Oh, just wanted to get a bit of fresh air then?"

"… Mum found out…"

"Oh."

"…"

Hari stubbed at the grass with the toe of one high heeled shoe. She was amazed she wasn't sinking into the lawn with how treacherous the heels were. "Well, I'm sure she won't be awkward with you for long. I know that you feel what you did was wrong, and I understand that Hideki- I really do. A very large portion of me is glad you did what you did; and that frightens we too. But what scared me the most was that you lost control again- and that, this time, it was worse than back on Isola Giungla."

Hideki stared off into the distance pensively.

"If… If you hadn't of snapped yourself out of it, then I don't know what we could have possibly done to get your out of it."

"…I'd never turn on you-"

"I never said you would," Hari smiled wetly, her eyes swimming with emotion. "But perhaps one day, if Li-Anne or I aren't there to help guide you through that… transformation, then maybe you'll lose yourself entirely; perhaps not even to your Devil Fruit but to the consequence of your actions when you transform back. Then again, as if we'd let that happen!"

Hideki felt a smile etch onto his face.

Elena, Hara and Li-Anne, having raced in pursuit of Hideki after the latter had left, were currently squishing behind a compact, cuboid shaped hedge in order to eavesdrop successfully on Hideki and Hari's conversation.

"Even your Captain is better than ours at pep talks!" Lieutenant Hara wailed. Then again, Marine Captain Ishi's mainly consisted of barking orders, sighing profusely at Hara's persisting incompetency, and retreating back to his office in a huff for some pain killers to hold off his first burgeoning migraine of the day.

Li-Anne hastily clamped her hands over his mouth; "Shut up ya' idiot!"

Elena's eyebrows rose, "What I'm more impressed with is how she managed to get him to fall asleep at a reasonable, if early, hour."

Lieutenant Hara's scream of frustration, having nowhere to go, whistled out of his nose with the enthusiasm of a screeching teakettle upon a lit stove.

"Shhh!" Elena and Li-Anne commanded immediately.

Hari offered Hideki a stronger, more supportive smile this time. She wished she could reach out and touch him, or offer him a hug, but her arms were still full of pom-poms. It was selfish of her, she knew, but they were a pain to pick up and Hideki wasn't always a very touch-feely kind of person. "We'll always be here for you Hideki! You're nakama now! Did I ever say how much I love using that word? Because I do. It fits the crew's dynamic perfectly; one big happy family."

Li-Anne hissed in sympathy when Hideki's smile faltered somewhat, but Hari wasn't finished yet:

"Your mother will understand. Li-Anne has told me people have killed for far less just reasons- and Ishi just said that you're not the first Devil Fruit user to lose control. While I don't advocate it, or what you've done, I hope that we all can come to terms with it, okay?"

With full seriousness, Hideki nodded once more. They didn't hate him. He didn't hate himself as much anymore. His mother didn't think him a monster. He could work on his control. There were people there to support him.

He felt his mood brighten for the first time in weeks. Noticing this, a wry grin weaselled its way onto Hari's features.

"How about we have a little more fun before we leave?" She asked, jiggling the pom-poms she still cradled in her arms.

* * *

Marine Captain Ishi was rudely woken by a screeching Hara shaking him awake.

"The- _Sir wake up!_ The pirates have left! _SIR!"_

 _"I'M_ ** _AWAKE_** _HARA!"_ Ishi roared, scrabbling to his feet and slipping on the silken lining of his coat.

Surrounding him were his men, Hara and Elena near the front. The latter had cleared the air with her son, and while she could never imagine her son ever doing what he had done, she was not about to close him out of her life because of it. They both agreed to give it time, and to continue their Den-Den Mushi chats now the pirate's signal had returned. Perhaps, they would eventually overcome their issues, together. At least Hideki had two others to support him. Elena wasn't sure she would let him leave again after he confessed his actions, should Hari not have restored her faith in the Pom-Pom Pirates. They weren't the bad sort, and for that, Elena was glad. Hara was bound to blab to Ishi about Hideki if the Marine Captain didn't know all the details already, and Hideki's bounty was sure to rise. Elena wasn't sure how she felt about that.

She snickered politely behind her hands, Hara catching his laughter to the point it turned his face bright red from the effort of holding it in. One of the men stood further back in the crowd thought he could get away with it, but his laughter carried through the throng.

"And just _what_ is so funny?" Ishi fumed, scrubbing sleep from his eyes.

"The pirates, Sir- they've begun sailing awa-"

"I asked you what was so funny," Ishi growled, straightening to his full height. Hara shrunk back with a flinch.

Elena petted the long-suffering Lieutenant comfortingly on the shoulder; "You may want to check your reflection, Sir. The Pom-Pom Pirates have only just set sail, they may still be close to the harbour."

Snatching his coat up from the ground, Captain Ishi strode to the docks. He glanced into the rippling dock water after having seen Hari wave cutely from the rear of the departing ship to him.

"I had fun just being Hari again!" She screamed to him with a wide smile. "We should do this again sometime Ishi!"

Her female crew mate cackled at the sight of him, her laughter trailing away with the ship as it sailed further out to sea. Ishi knelt closer to the water, squinting to notice something- _anything_ \- out of place in his appearance. It was at that precise moment he noticed the strings of bright, multi-coloured pom-poms looped about his head, neck and wrists. The occasional one had been lightly stitched into the shoulder decorations of his coat- right at the end of the tassels too.

 **"** _ **SAIHŌ-SHI!"**_

* * *

 **Musical inspiration**

* * *

"Bohemian Rhapsody" – Queen, 'A Night at the Opera (2011 Remaster)'


End file.
